Is She the One?
by Rodea McWin
Summary: Ryan thinks he may have finally found the one for him, but is it really love he's feeling or is he a puppet in someones twisted idea of a relationship. Ryan and a few OC characters early in the story with Calleigh showing up more in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_**This story may sound familiar to a few of you since I had it posted before but decided to remove it from the site. Well it is back now with a few minor tweaks. **_

_**This was brought back to the site for Trish, but if anyone else finds that they are enjoying it then I thank you. **_

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Ryan had just gotten dumped by his third girlfriend in that last three months. He was beginning to think he was never meant to find that someone special; that someone who would be there for him no matter what. Of course he wondered if the problem wasn't the kind of women he always ended up going out with.

It was always the same. He would end up with some woman who was only interested in one thing, and by the time she had enough of what she wanted she would end it. What was wrong with him that woman thought he was only good for one thing; sex.

Of course sex was not a bad thing. He usually enjoyed it just as much as they did, but they never seemed to want anything else from him. Whenever he tried to take the relationship somewhere else; this is when the ladies would pack up and leave, telling him that they were not ready for anything else.

His last girlfriend was no different, but that hadn't stopped him from thinking she was different from all the rest. He had been dating her for three weeks and thought that finally he had found someone who would appreciate everything else he had to offer. When he suggested they do something different, it turned out to be their last date. She said she really liked him but things were just not working out and she didn't feel like pursuing the relationship any longer. At least she was honest about it, but it still didn't make him feel any better.

He took each breakup rather hard and like every break up he didn't sleep well; which caused him to be late to work. He already knew what to expect from Horatio when he got there and was bracing himself for the verbal assault. Horatio was tolerant of a few things, but being late to a crime scene was never one of them.

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As soon as he arrived at work he learned that Horatio had already left for the crime scene. This was not good, but he would get through it like all the other times he was late. Calleigh warned him though that Horatio was not in a good mood today and to be careful.

On his drive to the crime scene he went over what he was going to say to Horatio, but decided he was going to try and say as little as possible. When Horatio was in a bad mood at the beginning of the day it was always best to steer clear.

The crime scene was located in the middle of nowhere. He had to wonder how anyone had found the body, but that was one of the things he was here to investigate. He got out and headed toward the dilapidated shed that was in back of an even more dilapidated house. He looked around and didn't see Horatio, but figured he was inside. He also didn't see any other CSI so he didn't know if this case was his to work alone.

As he stepped inside the shed he received his answer, he would be processing this case alone. He walked over to where Horatio was bent over the body, "Hey H, sorry I'm late. Where do you want me to start?"

Horatio stood up and turned to Ryan, "Mr. Wolfe, you can start by processing the body. The ME has been waiting to take the body back and I don't want to keep them waiting. As for your tardiness, we'll talk about it later".

Ryan could always tell by Horatio's tone of voice when he was angry, and there brief conversation was enough for him to know his boss wasn't happy. He didn't have time to think about it if he was going to process this scene and make it back to work before the end of his shift. He pushed his feelings aside and got to work. Perhaps if he did a good job here, Horatio would go easy one him; but he knew better than to think this.

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It took the next four hours, but Ryan was finally finished and on his way back to the station. Ryan had been able to conclude that the victim was a drug dealer and had used his shed to make and store his goods. From what he could tell it looked like the guys death was accidental, but he would not know until he got back to the lab and evaluated the evidence.

He had made it to the lab and was in the middle of entering some information into the computer when Horatio wondered in.

"Mr. Wolfe, what can you tell me about the case so far?"

"It looks like the death may have been accidental, but I won't know until I look over the rests of the evidence".

"Let me know what you find". Horatio started to walk toward the door, but stopped and said, "I would like to talk to you before you go home".

Ryan was relieved that the talk he was going to get from Horatio was postponed until later. He really wanted to get this case work done.

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Before going home he had one thing left to do; talk to Horatio. He was outside of Horatio's office and was about to knock on the door when he heard voices coming from inside. He didn't want to interrupt and was about to leave when the door opened.

Standing in the doorway was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Behind her stood Horatio, but he was so enraptured by the sight before him that he didn't acknowledge his boss.

She had opened the door and was caught off guard by someone standing in the door way, "Oh sorry, I didn't know there was someone standing out here".

When Horatio saw who she was talking to he said, "Mr. Wolfe, please come in". As the woman turned to allow Ryan inside he turned to her, "Ms. Mills, this was the young man I was talking to you about. Now that he is here I would like it if you could stay".

Ryan was already inside the office when he heard Horatio invite the woman back inside. He wondered why she would be invited to see him get chewed out. Maybe she was from Internal Affairs or something. He waited for her to sit down before taking the other seat.

Horatio took his seat behind the desk and started, "Mr. Wolfe, this is Ms. Mills. She is studying to be a criminal lawyer and would like to observe some of the work that goes on here. She wants to work with someone while they investigate crime scenes and I thought you would be perfect for the job".

Ryan looked at Ms. Mills before replying to Horatio, "Sounds like something right up my alley". He turned back to Ms. Mills "So how long do I have the pleasure of your company Ms. Mills?"

She looked at Ryan and said, "Please call me Cheryl, and I thought 3 weeks would be long enough to get what I need for my class. My professor thought it would be good for me to get some exposure in the trenches and thought this would be a perfect place to start. I really appreciate you doing this".

"It would be my pleasure, so when do we get started".

Horatio answered the question before she could "I thought she could start tomorrow and work alongside of you while you work on the case from today. After that she will just follow you around". He stood up and turned to address Ms. Mills "So if you just show up at the front desk they will give you a temporary visitors badge and then you can start working with Mr. Wolfe".

Cheryl Mills stood up and followed Horatio to the door "Thank you Lt. Caine, I really appreciate the chance to see this up close and personal". She then turned to Mr. Wolfe, "I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow".

As Cheryl walked out the door Horatio stopped Ryan, "A word of advice Mr. Wolfe; please be on time tomorrow. If this goes well I will excuse your tardiness on the case today. I am doing this as a favor to Ms. Mill's professor and I don't want anything to go wrong.

Ryan was relieved that he didn't get chewed out. He looked at Horatio and said, "I won't let you down H". He walked out of the office and toward the back door to his car. He was looking forward to working with Cheryl and was looking forward to tomorrow.

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The next morning Ryan made sure he was early to arrive and went straight to work in the lab while waiting for Cheryl to arrive.

He had only been working for about 30 minutes before he was told he had a visitor waiting at the front desk. As he approached the desk he saw the same thing he did yesterday, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Hi Cheryl, so are you ready to start?"

Cheryl had been watching Ryan approach and thought she was going to enjoy working with him. She just hoped the 3 weeks wouldn't end to soon, but then again maybe 3 weeks could turn into something more. "Good morning Mr. Wolfe, I'm ready, where do we start?"

Ryan smiled to himself before saying "You can start by calling me Ryan. I thought I would take you on a tour of the station before heading down to the lab. There is a lot more to this building than one thinks".

"That sounds great Ryan, lead the way". She waited for him to proceed and then followed.

Ryan took her all over the station and made sure to introduce her to everyone he could. When they were done he realized it was close to lunch time, "hey, I know you're probably eager to get in the lab, but I was wondering if you were getting hungry, I know I am".

"Are you asking me out to lunch Mr. Wolfe?"

"Well, Horatio said you were to follow me around while I was at work, so I don't see how this is any different. I know this little burger place downtown that serves a pretty good spread, what do you say?"

"Sounds great, but I insist on paying for my own lunch".

"I wouldn't have it any other way". He led Cheryl to his car and drove her to downtown where they had a nice lunch and were able to get to know one another better. By the time he got back to work he knew one thing for sure, he liked her. He wondered if when they were done with her school project she would be willing to see him again. He hoped so.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Cheryl and Ryan had worked closely together for the last 2 weeks and were now starting their third and final week. They had enjoyed working with each other and as a way of saying thank you Cheryl was taking Ryan out for a night on the town.

She had gotten tickets to a local band playing downtown and was excited when he said he would love to go. Since she didn't have a car he offered to drive them to the concert. Afterwards they planned on getting a bite to eat then go to one of the local clubs she had heard about from a friend.

After work they both went home to get ready and he told her he would pick her up around 6. Ryan was looking forward to spending some time with Cheryl outside of work. He was also curious to see if her flirtatious tendencies would turn into something else. For the past two weeks she had been constantly flirting with him; so much that people were starting to talk. Well maybe after tonight there would really be something for them to talk about.

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Ryan found the directions Cheryl had given him to her apartment pretty easy to follow. As he drove up to the building he noticed that the place looked nicer than something a student could afford.

He walked inside the foyer of the building and pushed the call button to Cheryl's apartment, "Hey Cheryl, its Ryan". The locked door on the other end of the foyer buzzed allowing Ryan to open it up and proceed further into the building and over to the elevator. She had told him she was on the 6th floor.

After getting out of the elevator he went to the right and eventually found her door. He knocked and waited for her to answer, but he was surprised when the door opened and it was not Cheryl who greeted him. Instead it was another woman who looked about the same age and had similar features like Cheryl. For a second he thought that maybe he had the wrong apartment, "Hi, is this where Cheryl Mills lives".

"Yes it is. You must be Ryan. I'm Amanda, Cheryl's sister and roommate. She told me you were coming to pick her up. Please come inside, she should be ready shortly".

Ryan walked past Amanda and waited for her to shut the door and lead him further into the apartment. He soon found himself in their living room; which was stylishly decorated. He took the offered seat on the couch to wait for Cheryl.

"Ryan, can I get you something to drink while you wait?"

"No, thanks".

Amanda went over and sat in the chair opposite of Ryan, "So, where are the two of you going? Cheryl didn't tell me anything except that you were going to pick her up".

"Were going to go and see some band she got tickets for".

She nodded her head and said "Oh, well I'm sure it will be fun. So are you sure you don't want anything while you wait? She is not very prompt when it comes to going out. You could be waiting a while".

At the exact moment Amanda was done speaking, Ryan heard a familiar voice, "Hey Amanda, you don't need to tell Ryan my secrets". She walked past her sister and went straight for Ryan, "I hope she didn't bore you too much".

Ryan stood up as she came into the room and allowed her to kiss him before he replied to her, "No, she has been very gracious. You look great Cheryl"

Cheryl kissed him again before saying "Thanks, I was waiting for just the right time to where this new dress".

Ryan stood staring at her before finally saying "Well, we should probably get going, are you ready?"

"Yes, let's get out of here. It is too nice of a night to stay indoors". Cheryl started making her way to the front door.

Ryan followed her, but before he left he turned to Amanda and said, "It was nice meeting you".

Amanda smiled and said "Likewise".

"Come on Ryan, let's go". She pulled Ryan's arm a little harshly, acting as if she seems a little annoyed that he had taken the time to say something to her sister.

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The night had gone just as Ryan had hoped; great. It was about 1 in the morning when he pulled up to the front of her apartment building. "Well I don't know about you but I had a very good time tonight".

She gave him a very sly smile and said "I did too. So do you have time to come up for a drink?"

He would have loved to have gone up to her place and had a drink, but he knew it was getting late and he really couldn't afford to be late to work in the morning. "It's getting late, I should probably head home".

Before Ryan knew what was happening Cheryl was sitting on top of his lap facing him. "Ok Ryan, I'll understand this one time, but next time you're coming up". It was a tight squeeze but what came next made him forget how uncomfortable they both were. She planted her lips firmly on his and didn't let go until she was forced to take a breath. She looked him straight in the eyes when she was done and said "Well, here is a taste of what you could expect next time".

Ryan was still sitting there slightly stunned when he realized that she had gotten off of him and was digging her keys out of her purse. She turned to him and gave him another kiss before exiting the car.

She walked straight to the front door of the apartment without ever looking back at him.

Ryan's thoughts were totally preoccupied on his drive home. He had a great time tonight and was looking forward to doing it again.

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The next morning Ryan was standing at his locker getting ready for the day when he felt someone put their hands around his waist and whisper in his ears "I had a great time last night. Do you want to do it again tonight?"

Ryan looked around the other lockers before turning to her and giving her a passionate kiss "I would love to. What do you have in mind?"

"I could make you some dinner and then we could go out and see a movie or something?"

"Sounds good".

Her lips quickly grazed his lips as she walked away toward the door.

For the rest of the day Ryan was in a good mood. It was enough to make other people take notice and inquire as to why he was so happy. He just made something up about finishing a case and left it at that. He was not one to kiss and tell.

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On his drive over to Cheryl's apartment, Ryan had time to think. He was thinking about her and wondered if he was moving too fast. This was how each of his relationships started and by the second date they always ended up in bed. He was hoping this one would be different; he really liked Cheryl and was hoping to make it last longer than the typical 3 weeks. Before he got to her place he told himself that if they didn't end up in bed after tonight he was convinced that she was not going to be like all the other girls.

On his way to the front door he ran into Cheryl's sister, "Hey Amanda; going out tonight?"

She gave Ryan a shy smile and said "It wasn't my idea, but Cheryl told me to get lost. I thought I would head over to the library and see what kind of trouble I could get into".

Ryan couldn't help but laugh at Amanda's idea of fun, "Well you better take it easy tonight, I don't want to hear that they had to call the cops and raid the library you were at?"

Amanda produced a bigger smile for Ryan which was followed by a small giggle, "I promise I'll be good". She realized that he was going to have to have Cheryl buzz the door open so she decided to go back in the building and let him in. "Here, you can head right up. She was in the middle of making you dinner, or at least that's what she was calling it".

Ryan thanked her and walked inside the building. He decided to take the stairs this time since he was in such a good mood. On his way up his thoughts were temporarily shifted to Amanda as he remembered what she said about dinner. He hoped he would be able to eat whatever she made, but it wouldn't be the first time he told a girl her food was good; when it was really awful.

After knocking on Cheryl's door he waited for her to answer. When the door finally opened he found the wait was worth it, "Man, you look gorgeous Cheryl". He had a hard time taking his eyes off of her. She was wearing a very tight fitting black dress that showed off her incredible body.

She gave Ryan a very seductive smile, "Well thank you Mr. Wolfe, I'm glad you like it". She opened the door just enough to allow him to enter.

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Dinner was served not too long after he arrived and he could see why Amanda had commented on it. It was barely edible, but he was being polite and pretended to like it. After dinner they caught a picture at the multiplex and were on their way home when Ryan realized it was already after midnight, "Well I suppose it's getting late. I really should be getting home?'

Cheryl checked her watch before replying, "Yeah your right, I didn't realize the time. Do you want to come up for a little bit before going home?"

Ryan had a hard time resisting the look on her face and before he knew it he was saying "I guess I could come up for a little bit".

Ryan parked his car and followed Cheryl up to her apartment. When they walked in the place was dark so it was hard to tell if they were alone or not.

Cheryl turned on the light above the stove and pulled a couple of bottles of beer out of the fridge. As she handed Ryan his bottle she looked at him for a second before saying "so, do you want to get comfortable on the couch?"

"Sure".

He went over to the couch and waited while she got comfy next to him. As he took a sip of beer, he found her taking the bottle out of his hand and placing it next to hers on the table. She turned and looked at him passionately before gently moving his head onto her lap so that he was using her legs as a pillow. She then gazed down at his face and started running her fingers through his hair, "I have had a great time these last couple of days. I know that we only have a few more days left to work with each other, but I was hoping that you would be willing to still hang out with me.

Ryan opened his eyes and looked up at Cheryl, "I have had a great time too. I would love to see more of you when this is all done".

Cheryl moved her face closer to Ryan's face and then proceeded to kiss him the same way she did in the car the day before. This time it lasted a lot longer. Ryan eventually sat up and started kissing her neck and moving his hands down her back. He could tell she was enjoying this so he started to unzip her dress. Before he got very far he felt her hands on his chest as she gently pushed him away. "Whoa Ryan, I'm having a great time here, but I think we're moving too fast".

Ryan was actually relieved that she had stopped him. Cheryl was already proving to be different from the other girls he had been dating in the past few months. His face felt a little flushed when he looked at her and said "Yeah, I should probably be heading home".

Cheryl saw him to the door and gave him another passionate kiss before saying good night and closing the door behind him.

Ryan's mind was once again preoccupied on his drive home. He kept thinking about Cheryl and thought this was a good sign. Perhaps this relationship would go farther than all the others; he hoped so.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Ryan had seen Cheryl the every night this week and now today was her last day at the station. He wanted to make her last day memorable, but with such an unpredictable job he couldn't think of much to do. The last few days had been slow and he had been able to catch up on the paperwork associated with his last few cases, so he didn't even have that to work on. He had mentioned something to Calleigh and she suggested he take her to the shooting range and put her through the many tests they had. He thought this was a great idea; and besides a little practice never hurt anyone.

When Cheryl arrived she looked incredible. Ryan had a hard time keeping his eyes off of her when he saw her walking down the hall, but at least he didn't need to hide his feeling for her, since most everyone knew they were seeing one of another.

As he was staring at her he noticed she was carrying something. "Hey gorgeous, what do you have in the bag there?"

She gave him a wickedly naughty smile and handed him the bag, "I thought I would bring you a few things as my way of saying thank you to all you have done in the last three weeks. Go ahead and open it".

Ryan walked over to one of the chairs sitting in the hall and sat down. He set the bag next to him and looked inside. He reached inside and pulled out the first thing he saw. It was a framed picture of Cheryl and him at the beach the other night. They had taken a walk and she had found someone to take a picture of the two of them, "Oh wow, I love it, thank you Cheryl". He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.

"There's more in the bag, keeping looking".

Ryan could hear the excitement in her voice and he couldn't help but smile as he once again reached inside the bag. This time he pulled out a container and could tell they contained one of his favorite things, chocolate brownies, "You baked for me, how sweet".

Cheryl laughed and said, "Me bake; now that is something you will probably never see. Come on there is something else in the bag". She took the container out of his hands allowing him to once again reach into the bag.

This time he pulled out a shirt that was neatly folded. As he opened it to inspect it he looked at Cheryl and smiled, "Hey, this is the shirt that I was looking at the other day when we were downtown. But this shirt was way too expensive".

Cheryl was on her feet and before Ryan knew what had happened she had hauled him into a nearby supply closet. He was pushed roughly up against the shelves where she proceeded to kiss him; her hands working on undoing his shirt. She whispered into his ear, "You are so worth everything I gave you; maybe even more". She stopped talking and went back to work on his shirt. It wasn't long before she had it off. She started kissing his chest all over which was driving him wild. He had to keep remembering where he was; if not he was tempted to rip her clothes off and take her right there. Luckily some noise from the other side of the door kept him grounded, "Cheryl, we can't do this here, someone may catch us". He briefly stopped talking as a moan escaped from his lips. He didn't want her to stop what she was doing, but he knew he better before it went too far. "Cheryl, we really can't keep this up".

Cheryl stopped when she heard Ryan tell her to stop a second time. "You're such a party pooper".

Ryan thought he heard a hint of anger in her voice, but he wasn't sure. "I'm sorry, but I would like to make it up to you later after work?"

She looked him straight in the eye; her face void of any emotions, "You better". She picked up his shirt and handed it to him, but she didn't wait for him to put it back on. She went out the door without uttering another word.

Ryan finished putting his shirt back on and adjusted his tie before leaving the small room. Once he was back in the hallway he didn't see Cheryl anywhere; but luckily he didn't see anyone else either. He didn't want anyone to know what they almost did in there.

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After Ryan had found Cheryl he took her to the shooting range, where she seemed to have a blast. He was surprised at how well she handled a gun and thought he would ask about it one day, but just not today. Ever since their time in the supply closet; he felt like she was mad at him. He knew better than to ask her about it though. If he had learned one thing about her in the last three weeks, it was not a good idea to ask her how she was feeling.

After they were finished he took her back to the station where she said goodbye to everyone and thanked them for letting her be a part of the team for the last three weeks.

Once she was done he walked her outside where he saw she had a ride waiting for her. At first he thought it was her sister picking her up, but upon closer inspection of the car's driver he saw it was some guy. "Hey, who's the guy in the car?"

"He's just someone from school. He offered to give me a ride back to my place after work".

"Oh, you could have asked me. I would have taken you home".

"I know, but I didn't want to keep asking you all the time". She gave his arm a quick squeeze before she walked toward the car.

Ryan stood there and watched as the car drove away with Cheryl. He didn't think anymore about the guy in the car. His mind was too busy thinking about their date later that evening.

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Ryan had just arrived at Cheryl's place and couldn't be more excited. He had the whole evening planned out and it things went well, it might be followed by a little desert, and we're not talking about the kind you eat.

He rang her apartment and went through the door as it buzzed. He made his way up to the Cheryl's apartment and waited at the door after he knocked on it.

When the door opened Ryan found himself looking at Amanda, "Hi Amanda, do you know if Cheryl's ready to go?"

A look of confusion came over her face, "she's not here Ryan".

Now it was Ryan's turn to look confused, "What do you mean, she's not here? Do you know where she went?" He had to think about their last conversation and had to wonder if she knew their date was tonight.

"I'm sorry Ryan; I don't know where she went. She looked like she was going out when I passed her in the hallway earlier, but I figured she was meeting you somewhere".

"Thanks Amanda, maybe I'll try and call her". Ryan walked away from the door and headed straight for the elevator.

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After Ryan had gotten back to his car he decided to call Cheryl's phone. As it rang he was sure it was about to go to her voice mail when he suddenly heard his call answered by a "Hello". He was glad she had finally answered "Hey Cheryl, I'm over at your place, where are you?"

"I'm sorry Ryan, this is Amanda. I heard Cheryl's phone ringing so I decided to answer it when I saw that it was you. She must have left it here. I'm really sorry".

"You don't have to keep apologizing Amanda. I guess I'll just have to wait until she calls me then. When you see her can you tell her I was looking for her?"

"I sure can Ryan".

Ryan ended the call and sat in his car for a few minutes. It had to be a misunderstanding and maybe if he sat here long enough he would see her coming home.

After about 10 minutes he decided to leave and head home. On his way home he called the restaurant he had planned on taking her to and found out that there was no one by the name of Cheryl waiting for him. He headed home since there was nothing else he could do. Maybe she was waiting for him at his place.

As soon as he got home he quickly found out that she was not there. There was also no message on his answering machine.

Well this evening was not how he anticipated it to go. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat on the couch. The beer did little to sooth his mood, but it at least helped to dull the pain. He really thought that Cheryl was different from all the other ladies he had been dating lately. He had been thinking that maybe this relationship would last longer and perhaps turn into something more permanent, but now he didn't know. He got up and grabbed his second bottle of beer; the first having been drained in a matter of minutes. He was just glad that tomorrow was his day off. He could drink himself senseless and not have to worry about being late in the morning.

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After watching some stupid movie on TV and finishing his fourth beer he heard a light tapping on his door. It didn't sound like anyone was knocking on it so he ignored it; after all it was 11:30 and who would be coming to see him at this time of night.

He turned off his TV and was headed into the kitchen when the tapping started up again followed by a steady knocking. He went to his door and looked through the peep hole. What he saw surprised him.

He opened the door and was now looking at Cheryl. "What do you want?" He didn't mean for his tone of voice to be so abrupt, but the 4 beers he drank didn't help.

"Oh Ryan, I'm so sorry about tonight. After work something came up and it took longer to finish that I thought it would. When I finally looked at the time it was already too late to do anything about it. I would have called you but my phone wasn't getting any reception where I was. I am so sorry, do you forgive me?"

Ryan stood there looking at her as she tried to put on her biggest '_I'm sorry'_ face. He was feeling a little too drunk to see anything else, "I don't know, I had a great night planned for us and then it didn't happen. Where were you anyway?"

"Do you at least forgive me?" She still just stood there with the same look on her face.

Ryan gave in because he couldn't stand to see her looking the way she did, "I forgive you".

Her face instantly changed to a much happier face "Oh Ryan, you are the best. Can I make it up to you?"

A smirk formed on his face as he said "I would expect nothing less".

She suddenly moved toward Ryan shoving him back inside his condo. Once they were inside she slammed the door with her foot and pushed him toward his couch where she proceeded to make it up to him.

The rest of the night was exactly how Ryan had hoped the evening would end. As they made love in several different places they finally ended up in his bed where the both of the eventually fell asleep in one another's arms.

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Ryan woke up feeling refreshed and tired all at the same time. He thought about last night and looked over at the other side of his bed. When he saw that it was empty he thought that he must have dreamed it all, but after further inspection of the room he saw a note sitting on his dresser. He got up and walked over to retrieve it. He sat back down on the bed and opened the note; which smelled just like Cheryl's perfume. It said 'I hope I made things up to you last night. I had a great time and want to do it again and again. Till I see you again, love Cheryl'.

He closed the note and couldn't help but think he had finally found the one he was looking for.

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	4. Chapter 4

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For the last 2 weeks Ryan had seen Cheryl just about every night. He was happier than he had felt in a long time. She was definitely turning out to be different from anyone else he had dated before. She was just so incredible that he found himself thinking about her every minute of the day. Everyone at work also noticed something different about him and wanted to know all about it. He didn't want to tell them for fear of jinxing his relationship with her.

Tonight he had tickets to a play his friend had written and directed. It was only going to be something put on at the local community theater, but he promised his friend that he would come. He had also told his friend that he was bringing someone he wanted him to meet.

He was wearing the shirt that she had given him as he walked up to her apartment. She had given him a key to the front door of the building so that he would not have to be buzzed in, but she had not yet given him a key to her front door, even though she had a key to his door.

In his hands were a bundle of her favorite flowers, which he put behind had back as he waited for the door to open. As soon as it opened he pulled the flowers out in front of him obscuring his view. When he didn't get the expected response, he moved the flowers away from his face to see why and was surprised to be looking at Amanda, "Oh, sorry Amanda, I thought that Cheryl would have answered the door, since she knew I was coming to pick her up".

Amanda looked surprised at seeing Ryan, "She's not here Ryan. She left about 2 hours ago on her way to a friend's party".

"What, she's not here?"

Amanda could tell this came as a real shock to Ryan just by looking at his face. "She never mentioned the two of you going out tonight. She usually tells me to get lost when you're coming over and she never said a word about it". She couldn't help but feeling sorry for Ryan, he had such a wounded look on his face. "Hey, do you want to come in or something; seeing as you drove all the way over here for nothing".

Ryan didn't know what to do at the moment so he took Amanda up on her offer, "Sure, I guess I can come in".

"Can I get you something to drink?" Amanda didn't know what to say to Ryan, but she knew that she was mad at her sister for standing him up. This was not the first time she had done this to him and it was something she knew he didn't deserve. He seemed like such a nice guy she often wondered what he saw in Cheryl.

Ryan leaned up against the wall by the kitchen, "Sure, whatever you got would be great".

Amanda handed him a can of soda, "So, where were you two headed for tonight anyway? You looked all dressed up for something it looks like".

Ryan opened the can and took a sip before he responded to Amanda's question, "We were supposed to go and see a play tonight. A friend of mine wrote and directed it and I promised to come, but now I don't know if I feel like going alone".

Amanda was curious about the play so she asked "What play were you going to?"

"It's called '_A Night to Remember'_. It's playing over at the community center so it wasn't a big production or anything, but it was my friend's first play".

"I think I read about that one in the paper. It sounded like it was going to be good. I think you should still go and see it, especially if your friend was expecting you".

"I don't know; I didn't want to go alone". Ryan stopped as he had an idea, "Hey, are you doing anything tonight? I mean, I have an extra ticket and since you seem to know about the play and all, it might be fun to go and see it with someone who would probably enjoy it. I didn't really know if Cheryl would have liked it or not, but seeing as she didn't remember the play was tonight I guess she didn't".

Amanda wasn't expecting this, "Oh I don't know. I wasn't really planning on going out tonight".

Ryan took that to mean she was free, "So if you weren't going out that it can only mean you're free for the evening".

She really didn't have any plans and seeing the play might be nice, but then she thought of her sister, "Oh, I don't think Cheryl would like it very much".

"Well, the way I see it is that she's not here and you are. I have an extra ticket and it sounded like you might have liked to see it so I think you should come with me. It will be a nice evening out with friends".

Amanda sighed and was silent while thinking it over. Eventually she said "Oh I guess it would be fun. Give me a few minutes to get changed". She was still wearing her clothes from work, which were not suitable for a night out. She went into her room and looked through her closet. There didn't seem to be anything she liked, but then again she was not used to going out. She finally decided on a navy blue skirt and a nice light blue tank top under a white cardigan. She put on some nice sensible shoes for walking, but still stylish enough to go with the skirt. Before leaving she took her hair out the pony tail it had been in and tried her best to comb it into something more presentable. Her last thing to do was add a touch of makeup; just enough to give her face some color.

Ryan was sitting in one of the living room chairs when Amanda finally came out of her room. He looked at her and thought she looked completely different that she had before. With a little attention given to her personal appearance he thought she was actually kinda pretty. "Well you look nice. I thought we could go out for dinner after the play, do you like Chinese?"

"I love Chinese food".

"Great, I figured since Cheryl was not going tonight I could change the restaurant. She hates Chinese, but I was having a craving for it ever since the other day and I know of a nice little place pretty close to the theater".

-

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Ryan and Amanda arrived at the theater with some time to spare. Ryan wanted to find his friend and wish him luck since it was the first night of the play.

As Ryan looked around the crowd of people that were in the waiting area he spotted his friend and called out his name, "Shane".

Shane looked around and finally saw Ryan. He made his way over to where Ryan and Amanda were standing. He gave Ryan a hug "Hey thanks for coming Ryan; it means a lot to me that you came". He then looked at Amanda "And this must be that special lady you were talking about".

Ryan saw Amanda blush before he could correct his friend, "Oh, no this is not Cheryl, this is her sister Amanda. Cheryl couldn't make it but Amanda was free and really wanted to see it".

Shane looked embarrassed "Sorry, I just assumed this lovely lady with you was your girlfriend".

Amanda's face became more flushed as she heard Shane say she was lovely. She looked away from both men hoping that they didn't notice.

Shane could tell he embarrassed her so he changed the subject, "Well the shows about to start so I really should go in the back and make sure everyone is ready. It was nice meeting you Amanda".

Amanda didn't feel herself blushing this time so she thought it was safe to look at Shane, "It was nice meeting you. Good luck with your show".

Ryan shook Shane's hand and said "Good luck".

-

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After the play was over Ryan and Amanda found Shane and congratulated him on a show well done. He invited them to the after party but Ryan politely thanked him and said they had other plans.

The rest of the night went really well and Ryan was surprised at how much he had in common with Amanda. Even though he was dating Cheryl he was kind of glad that she had not come tonight. He didn't think he would have had as a good of a time is she had come along.

Ryan drove Amanda back to her place and was walking her to her front door when they ran into Cheryl.

Cheryl didn't look very happy at seeing Ryan with Amanda, "What do we have here, did you take my sister out Ryan?"

Ryan didn't like the accusing tone he heard in her voice, "Yeah, I took her out since you decided not to be here when I came to pick you up".

"What, we didn't have a date tonight, what are you talking about". She kept her eyes on Ryan, refusing to address her sister.

"The play my friend wrote was tonight and you said you would go with me".

Cheryl suddenly looked embarrassed "The play was tonight, oh my god Ryan; I thought it was tomorrow night".

Ryan was not buying her excuse "No, it was tonight".

Cheryl started digging for something in her purse. As soon as she found her phone she pulled it out and started searching through it. Once she found what she was looking for she showed the screen to Ryan, "No I had it on my calendar and it said the play was tomorrow night, I am so sorry. Can I make this up to you?"

Ryan was silent for a moment thinking of what he was going to say, "I don't know, maybe".

Cheryl went up to him and whispered something in his ear and then waited for him to say something.

Ryan liked what she whispered in his ear and after thinking about it for a few seconds he said "Ok, I think that sounds fair".

The whole time Cheryl was talking to Ryan, Amanda didn't know what to do. She became very uncomfortable as soon as she saw her sister. She tried to blend into the wall but it didn't work when Ryan turned to her to say something.

"Well, I had a very good time Amanda. Thanks for coming out with me tonight".

Cheryl did not like this and suddenly grabbed Ryan's arm and pulled him in the direction of the front door to her apartment, leaving Amanda just standing there.

Ryan wanted to say something when Cheryl pulled him away, but he didn't want to upset Cheryl so he allowed her to lead him away.

When Amanda eventually walked through the front door she saw that Ryan and Cheryl were nowhere in sight. Further inspection of the apartment revealed the door to Cheryl's bedroom was closed. She was glad she didn't have to confront either of them and went into her own room. But she soon heard some noises coming from her sister's bedroom that would prevent her from getting a good night's sleep.

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The next morning Amanda got up and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. She walked past Cheryl's door and saw that it was still closed. She knew she would have to face her sister eventually and just hoped she was not mad about last night. But she was glad she could eat some breakfast first.

She was sitting at the kitchen table eating some cereal when she heard the door to Cheryl's bedroom open. She looked up and saw her sister standing there looking a little pissed off. She tried to avoid he sisters glare and said "Good morning Cheryl, there is some fresh coffee in the kitchen".

Cheryl walked closer to her sister, "What do you think you were doing going out with my boyfriend last night?" Her tone of voice was as cold as ice.

Amanda didn't know how to respond. She knew that no matter what she said her sister would be mad at her. She decided the easiest way out was to just to say she was sorry, "I promise it won't happen again. I'm sorry".

"It better not, now I think you should go for a jog this morning. I want to have the apartment so that I can make Ryan some breakfast".

Amanda hated being bossed around by her sister, but she did what she was asked; she got ready and went for a long jog.

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The rest of the week Cheryl made sure that Amanda was not in the apartment when Ryan came over. She was still mad at her sister, but she was too busy to fight about it.

Ryan sensed there was something up between the sisters and felt like it was his fault. But he also felt like Cheryl was treating her sister unfairly. He only took her out since he had no one else to go with. It wasn't like it was a date or anything and he had told Cheryl this, but all he got was the silent treatment until he changed the subject.

Ryan felt responsible for the way Cheryl was treating her sister. It was enough to make him decide to call Amanda and apologize to her. They had a nice long talk on the phone and wished the reason for his call had been for something else. He didn't tell Cheryl about the call, but he felt better after talking to Amanda and he thought she felt the same way.

When Amanda was done on the phone she put it down on her dresser. It was getting late and she still needed to run some errands so she got her purse and found her car keys. She left the apartment without taking her phone with her. Had she known what her sister was just about to do, she would have remembered to take it with her.

-

Cheryl had come home and heard her sister talking and laughing to someone on the phone. From the way she sounded Cheryl figured it must be a guy she was talking to. When Amanda left she didn't say anything since she wasn't even sure her sister knew she was home. When she walked by her sisters open bedroom door she couldn't help but notice Amanda had forgotten her phone. Being the nosy sister she was she decided to see if she recognized the phone number of the last caller. When she pushed a few buttons on the phone and started reading the number of the screen her blood began to boil. This was not acceptable and she was mad; mad enough to throw her sister's phone out the window; where it landed on the pavement and shattered into several pieces.

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	5. Chapter 5

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It had been a week since Cheryl had destroyed Amanda's phone. When Amanda asked if she had seen the phone she gave a very convincing performance of saying that she had not. Amanda eventually gave up her search and purchased a new phone; however this time she was much more careful with it and never let it out of her sight.

During that same week Cheryl had also been clingier with Ryan; seeing him every night at his place and even spending the night on several occasions. She never felt threatened by her sister, but she was still worried that if Ryan spent more time around her he may develop some feelings toward her. She knew that Ryan had a lot in common with Amanda, so she had to keep them apart.

The only times she had been back to the apartment in the last week had been to change clothes and take care of a few bills. If she wasn't with Ryan, she had been busy with school, but spring break was coming soon and she was looking forward to some time off. She also had a surprise planned for Ryan and couldn't wait to get away for a weekend with him. She had not planned on going far, but at least it was somewhere romantic; something that she knew Ryan would love. The romance was something that she could take or leave, but it was something she could tell Ryan was looking for.

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Ryan was starting to get use to having Cheryl around; so much that he was thinking about asking her to move in with him. She was always running home for a change of clothing and to take care of things, so she might as well just move in. He wanted to take it slow though and was going to suggest that she start by leaving some clothes and a few other things here. He was taking her to a new restaurant downtown for dinner so he thought this would be the best time to say something.

He had gotten ready for and was on his way to pick Cheryl up when his phone rang. His caller id indicated it was Cheryl, "Hey babe, I'm almost there. I hope you're ready when I get there".

"Ryan, I hate to do this at such short notice, but I won't be able to go out tonight. I have to finish my paper before tomorrow and I am not even close to being done".

Ryan was disappointed, but he remembered being in college "I understand, but maybe I could help you get it done?"

"Oh, you are so sweet to offer, but I have my lab partner helping me. We should have it done by the end of the night".

As soon as she mentioned her lab partner his thoughts went back to the day that her lab partner had given her a ride home. That night their date didn't happen either. "OH, I didn't know your paper was a joint effort".

Cheryl heard a jealous tone in Ryan's voice and called him on it immediately, "what's that suppose to mean?"

Ryan's tone of voice switched to a more neutral one as he said, "It doesn't mean anything. Look, if you get done before the night is over give me a call and maybe we can salvage some of the night together".

"Well, you'll be the first to know if I get done early".

Ryan knew she was mad at him now and wished he hadn't opened his big mouth. He was about to respond to her last statement when he heard her end the call. She was definitely mad at him.

-

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Well he was all dressed up with nowhere to go. He was already far enough away from home that he knew he didn't want to drive all the way back. He thought about it and decided to go and get a bite to eat and then go see a movie. He was close to the Chinese restaurant that he had taken Amanda to and decided that would be a good place to go to.

He entered the restaurant and was glad that it wasn't too busy yet. He grabbed a table by the window and ordered his food. As he sat there sipping some tea, he noticed he was not the only one eating at a table by themselves. A few tables over, there was a young lady who he instantly recognized; it was Amanda.

He hadn't seen her in awhile and decided to go over and say something. "Hey Amanda, are you here alone?"

Amanda looked up just as she had stuffed some noodles into her mouth, "Oh, Ryan". She tried to spit out her food into her napkin as daintily as possible before continuing "yeah, I had a craving and decided to come here for some food. Did you bring Cheryl here?" She knew that they were supposed to be on a date tonight.

"No, she had to stay as school and finish her paper. I decided to come here for a bite to eat since I also had a craving". He looked at the amount of food on her plate and realized that either she had not been here that long or was just a slow eater, "Hey are you up for some company? The place is starting to fill up and they would probably like to have my table for someone else".

Amanda looked nervous at the thought of Ryan joining her. She remembered what happened last time they were together. "Oh, I don't know, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to eat together".

Ryan had the waiter bring his food and bill over to his new table. He was glad for the company as he sat there eating his food. By the time dinner was over he had forgotten about how mad Cheryl was at him and actually managed to have a good night so far. He really liked hanging out with Amanda and decided to keep the evening going. "Hey, I was going to go and check out a movie, do you want to join me?"

Amanda bite her bottom lip and scrunched up her eyes while the thought about it, "I don't know, I mean having dinner together because we just happened to be here at the same time is one thing, but going to the movies, I don't know". She really wanted to say yes, but knew it was not fair to Cheryl.

"It's just a movie Amanda. Come on, I really hate sitting in the theater by myself".

How could she say no to him? He looked pathetic standing there with his puppy dog eyes. "Oh all right, but I'm buying this time". She had not liked it that he had paid for her dinner.

"Great, the theater is not far so we can walk".

Before she could say anything he took her hand and started walking toward the multi-plex that was down the road. She felt his hand wrapped around hers and wondered if he knew what he had just done. She enjoyed the embrace and thought his hand felt so wonderfully warm against her flesh. She didn't want it to end, but as they turned the corner to the movie place he let go of it.

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It had taken only a few seconds for the two of them to decide on which movie to see. They went up to the ticket booth and when they were asked which movie they both said the name at the same time. Amanda was instantly embarrassed when the girl behind the booth smiled at the two of them and said "Oh how sweet, you guys are such a cute couple". She took Amanda's credit card and proceeded to give her two tickets, "Enjoy your movie".

As they were walking away the girl behind the counter suddenly yelled out to them "Hey, do you want your card back?"

Ryan went back for the card which had a copy of the receipt wrapped around it. He handed the card back to Amanda but absent mindedly put the receipt into his pocket.

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After the movie was over Ryan walked Amanda back to her car talking the whole time about how great the film was. They had tried not to talk too much during the movie, but now that it was over they couldn't stop. He suggested they go for some desert but she thought it was getting late and she should really be getting back. Even though tomorrow was Saturday, she had an early morning at work.

As soon as they reached her car Ryan stood there waiting for her to find her keys in her purse, "Well I don't know about you, but tonight was fun".

Amanda had just pulled her keys out of her purse when she dropped them to the ground. She bent down to pick them up but didn't realize that Ryan had chosen that exact moment to bend down and pick them up too. Their heads met together with a bang, "Oh my god Ryan, I'm sorry". She was rubbing her head and saw that he was doing the same thing.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. Here let me take a look at your head". He got really close to her face and saw that a small little bump had started forming "oh man, you've got a nice little bump", he looked down into her eyes "does it hurt much?"

She was about to answer but having their faces so close together was just too much for either one to handle. It was a quick kiss, but it was definitely a kiss. When each of them realized what was happening they backed away from each other. Ryan was the first to say something "Oh I am so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen".

Amanda looked down toward the ground, "No, I'm sorry". She reached down and quickly grabbed her keys that still lay in front of her and said "I really need to get going". She opened her car and when Ryan had moved away from the car, she backed it up and drove away. She did catch a glimpse of Ryan in her rearview mirror and couldn't help but smile as she remembered the kiss and the taste of Ryan's lips against hers.

-

As Ryan watched Amanda drive off he felt so guilty about what had just happened. This was definitely something that he was not going to mention to Cheryl. He just hoped that Amanda didn't say anything either. He walked to where his car was parked and dug his keys out of his pocket. As he did; the receipt from the movies fell to the ground. He picked it up and threw it into his car as he got in and drove towards home.

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The next day was Saturday and Ryan had promised to help one of his friends paint their living room. He had originally asked Cheryl if she wanted to help and she had said yes, but thought that she would be too tired since she had a late night with her paper. He was getting ready to go when his phone rang. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was Cheryl, "Hi Cheryl, I thought you would be sleeping in today".

"I thought about it, but I remembered you needed some help with some painting".

"Are you sure, I would understand if you just wanted to stay home".

"Nope, I promised you. Can you come over and pick me up though?"

"Yeah sure, I'm leaving now so I'll be there soon".

Even though he had been disappointed about last night, he was looking forward to spending the day with Cheryl and was anxious to pick her up.

When he pulled up to her building he saw that she was waiting by the curve for him. He pulled up and got out to open her car door for her "Good morning beautiful". He kissed her before helping her into the car and closing her door. He ran over and got in the driver's side and drove off.

She put her hand on his leg while he was driving and asked "So what did you end up doing last night anyway?"

Ryan looked anywhere but in her direction as she said "Oh, I just went out to eat and saw a movie". He quickly changed the subject, "So, did you get your paper finished?"

"I finished it around 10 last night. I am so glad that I got it done. I just hope my professor likes it".

"So you got done early, why didn't you call me then?"

"I was tired and didn't feel like interrupting you last night. I had Chad take me home since he was headed in that direction anyway".

Ryan didn't say another word about last night. The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled up to his friend's house, "Well here we are. I really appreciate you giving me a hand, and I know that Mark will too. He is trying to sell the house but needs to paint the whole thing before putting it on the market".

Ryan had the paint in his trunk and pulled out 3 cans, handing one of them to Cheryl. They walked up to the front door and were greeted by Mark; a nice looking man in his mid forties.

Ryan set the can's down and took the one out of Cheryl's hand, "Hey Mark, this is Cheryl, she is going to give us a hand today".

Mark came over and shook Cheryl's hand, "Nice to finally meet you Cheryl, I have heard a lot about you. I hope you like spaghetti; I plan on making it for lunch".

Ryan smiled at his friend and then at Cheryl, "That sounds good Mark. So I think we should get started". He looked around and realized that he had forgotten the drop cloth that was the back seat of his car. "Oh, I forgot something in my car, I'll be right back".

Cheryl stopped him before he got too far, "No, why don't you stay here and get the place ready, I can go out to the car and get it".

"Thanks". He handed her the keys to his car.

-

Cheryl walked out to Ryan's car and opened the back door. She was looking inside for the drop cloth when she came across a receipt that had fallen to the floor of the car. She picked it up to put it back on the seat when she noticed it was from last night. Further inspection of the receipt revealed that it was a credit card receipt from the multi-plex and it had the name of Amanda Mills on it.

Cheryl's face turned a shade of red as she suddenly became angry at what she found. It took all of her self control to put the receipt back where she found it and to walk back toward the house with the drop cloth. She would deal with this, but just not today. She spent the rest of the day with Ryan acting as if nothing had happened.

-

It was well after dinner by the time Ryan and Cheryl made their way back to his place. It had been a long day, but Ryan thought it went well. As they entered his condo Ryan turned on the lights and watched as Cheryl sat down on the couch, "Well that was fun; I hope you enjoyed yourself today".

Cheryl sat there taking her shoes off as she replied to Ryan's question, "I did have fun, thanks for asking me to help".

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like a shower". He went into the bathroom and turned on the water; allowing it to warm up. When the water was just right he hopped in and was in the middle of washing his hair when he heard the shower door open up. He finished rinsing the shampoo out when he felt Cheryl's hands around his waist. He opened his eyes and smiled "Hey, I guess you needed a shower to". The two remained intertwined with one another until the water started getting cold. After they quickly dried each other off with their towels they finished what they started in Ryan's bedroom.

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It was Sunday morning and Ryan was feeling on top of the world. He had just woken up and looked over at the woman he was sure he was in love with. Last night he had been ready to ask her to start leaving a few things at his place, but now he was ready to ask her to move in with him.

He got up and made her a special breakfast; which he brought to the bed. "Good morning honey, I made you your favorite breakfast". He put the tray down and crawled back in on his side of the bed.

Cheryl had only been awake for a few minutes, but the smell of coffee and bacon made her come alive, "Oh Ryan, this is so sweet of you". She leaned over and kissed him and then proceeded to devour a piece of bacon followed by a sip of coffee. "So, what should we do today? I have the whole day opened just for you". She grabbed another piece of bacon waiting for him to reply.

"Well I don't know. I did have one thought. We could go to your place and bring over some of your things over here?"

Cheryl stopped eating when she realized what he had just said, "Are you asking me to move in here with you?"

"Yes, what do you say?"

She moved the tray off the bed, crawled back into bed and gave him the answer he was waiting to hear.

-

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After their morning fun they went to her apartment and loaded up his car full of her clothes and other personal stuff. She had said that she would bring more stuff over later, but really just wanted to grab the essentials for now. She left a note for her sister and told her that she was moving in with Ryan, but that she would still help her pay the rent until she found another roommate.

They went back to Ryan's condo where she proceeded to make herself at home in his closet. She had to move some of his clothes to the other room to make her clothes fit, but she didn't think he would mind. She then started making the final plans for their weekend getaway that was coming up soon. She was so excited about getting away that she had almost forgotten that she was still upset over what Amanda and Ryan had done the other night. She put her anger aside for now; she was in a good mood today since everything was happening just as she had planned it would.

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	6. Chapter 6

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It was Ryan's last day before his long weekend with Cheryl and he was looking forward to getting away for some serious R&R. It had also been 4 days since she officially moved into his condo and things couldn't be more perfect. He loved waking up and seeing her beautiful face lying next to his.

His good mood at work was also quite evident to his coworkers. Everybody had noticed a change in him and was curious to know why. It didn't take long for everyone to learn that he had asked Cheryl to live with him and this was the talk of the station at the moment. Ryan didn't mind too much, but he didn't like the one question that kept coming up 'so when are you going to marry her'. He often thought about getting married someday, but it was too early to be thinking of that.

Ryan had a few more things to take care of before he left and then he would be on his way out of town. He had allowed Cheryl to take his car and get everything ready so that all he had to do was get picked up and enjoy the ride. He had initially wanted to go home, but she had said that it would take too long and that it was just easier if she picked him up. Besides she needed to take care of a few things at school and needed the use of his vehicle.

Ryan looked up at the clock as he clicked his computer off and saw that it was time to get going. He told Cheryl to pick him up at 5; so that gave him a few minutes to go to his locker and put his gun and badge away since he didn't want to bring them along this weekend.

He spent a few minutes changing into something more suitable before heading out to the front of the building to wait for Cheryl. He sat down on one of the benches enjoying the sun when he heard someone call his name. He looked around and saw that it was Calleigh. "Hi Calleigh, I haven't seen you much today".

Calleigh sat down next to him and said "Hi Ryan, I haven't been around much today. I had a few things to take care of and decided to work a later shift today. Is your car in the shop again?"

"No, I let Cheryl have it for today so she could run some errands. She should be picking me up any minute".

"Oh, that's right; you're going away for a long weekend aren't you. It's going to be such a nice weekend to get away; I almost wish I had off too". She patted his leg as she stood up, "Well have a great time; and I want to hear all about it when you get back".

Ryan smiled at her, "You'll be the first to know". He kept smiling at her as she walked in. When he turned back toward the street he saw that Cheryl had arrived. He got up and started walking toward her, but for some reason she did not seem to be very happy to see him. "Hey Cheryl, what's wrong?"

Cheryl gave him a cold stare and finally said "Was that Calleigh you were talking to?"

Ryan could tell something was bothering her and it didn't take him long to figure out "Yeah that was Calleigh, if I didn't know better I would say you're jealous".

The cold stone look on Cheryl's face was quickly replaced with a surprised wide eyed look "What, I'm not jealous, come on let's get going. I don't want to get stuck in traffic". She handed him the keys and got in the passenger's side of his car.

He shrugged his shoulders and got into the driver's side; where it took about 5 minutes to get his seat and mirrors adjusted back just the way he liked them. He could tell that Cheryl was getting anxious; but he figured she could wait.

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They were about an hour out of Miami when Cheryl announced that they were almost there. The car ride had been pleasant, but he wished they had not started it out the way they had. He could tell it had really bothered her to see him talking to Calleigh, but he couldn't think of any good reason why. He wanted to talk to her about it, but that would have to wait; he didn't want anything else to spoil this weekend.

As they pulled up to the bed and breakfast Ryan was surprised at how expensive the place looked. He knew that she had put together the whole thing but he didn't realized how much she must have spent. "Wow, this is a really nice looking place, are you sure we can afford it".

Her tone had completely changed as she leaned over and kissed him "Don't worry about the price. You are so worth it". She kissed him again and then got out of the car.

Ryan got out and after getting their luggage they made their way to the front hall of the house. They were greeted by a nice older lady who introduced herself as Jill, the owner. After the quick introduction she showed them to their room.

Once they were in their room Cheryl could not wait any longer and pushed Ryan on the bed where she proceeded to show him just how much he was worth it.

When they finally left their room they decided to take a walk since dinner was not going to be ready for another 30 minutes. The owner of the bed and breakfast had told them that dinner would be served in the dining room and that it was being served family style. Ryan had never stayed in this kind of place before, but he had heard they could serve some of the best home cooked meals. He was extremely hungry and was looking forward to it.

Ryan held Cheryl's hand as they walked around the property. Everything was so perfect where they were and he couldn't feel happier than he did right at this moment. They found a gazebo near the barn and sat down to rest. Ryan turned to Cheryl and thought she looked lovely in the moonlight. "This was a great idea you had. I wish we could stay here forever".

Cheryl leaned into him and waited until he put his arm around her shoulders before saying "I'm glad you like it. This is one of my favorite places to come to when I need to get away from all the stress of the city".

The two of them sat there until it was time to return to the main house for dinner. When they got inside they saw that there were two other couples joining them tonight as well as the owners. They sat with one of the couples and found out that they were there celebrating their anniversary. They talked about nothing in particular during dinner and said their goodnights when they were finished.

Ryan thought this was some of the best food he had eaten in awhile and was ready to lie down and let his stomach digest it. Cheryl thought that was a good idea since she wanted to help the owner clean up after dinner. Ryan thought this was odd at first, but when he realized that she knew the owners he understood why.

He headed back up to this room and lay down on the bed. He leaned into the pillows on the bed and was soon fast asleep. When he woke up he found that he was alone in the room. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was a little after midnight. He wondered where Cheryl was, but figured she must still be down with the owners catching up on everything. He thought about going to find her but decided against it. He was still tired and decided to change into his pajamas and wait for her in bed. It wasn't long before he fell asleep again.

The next time he woke up he knew instantly that it was morning. The sun was high over head and shining brightly through the window. He looked over in the bed and saw that Cheryl had finally joined him. He didn't know what time she had finally come to bed so he didn't want to wake her up. He got dressed and made his way downstairs where he could smell bacon and eggs being cooked. He wandered into the kitchen and found Jill the owner preparing what was soon to be his breakfast. "Good morning, that sure smells great".

Jill turned around to greet him "Good morning Ryan, I hope you slept well last night?"

"I did thanks. I really enjoyed dinner last night; that had to be some of the best stew I've had in a long time".

Jill grabbed some plates and said "well if you thought dinner was good; wait until you've tried my pancakes. So is Cheryl still asleep?"

"Yeah, I don't know what time she finally got to bed, but I thought I would let her sleep".

"Well she was done helping me around 11:00. I just assumed she headed for bed". Jill finished serving up breakfast.

Ryan didn't think much more about this as his eyes widen at the amount of food that Jill placed in front of him. There was so much food he had to wonder if he was still dreaming.

After eating his fill he decided to go back up to the room to see if Cheryl was still sleeping. He opened the door and found that Cheryl was nowhere in sight, but after checking the bathroom he found her in the shower. "Good morning, did you sleep well last night?"

Without looking out of the shower, Cheryl said "I did, but you should have waked me up for breakfast; I'm starving".

"Jill said there was plenty left for you and would heat it up when you got down there".

Cheryl turned off the shower and stepped out onto the floor mat, taking the offered towel from Ryan. "That's good, I thought you might have eaten it all after tasting her pancakes".

Ryan laughed and said "I was tempted, but I had to say no when she offered me my 5th one". He then glided over to Cheryl and helped her dry off while getting a long and passionate good morning kiss from her.

"Ok, you need to get out of here now if I am ever going to get something to eat". She flicked the towel at him to get him moving out the door faster.

"Ok, ok I'm going". Ryan went back out to the bedroom and shut the door after him. He sat down on the bed and waited for Cheryl to get dressed.

After waiting for 20 minutes Cheryl finally came out looking radiant in her sundress, "Man, you just keep getting prettier every time I see you".

"So what do you want to do today? I didn't really plan much except for where we were staying. I just wanted this weekend to be spontaneous".

"Well Jill mentioned that there is a flea market going on in town, I thought we could go take a look perhaps. I also wanted to take a couple of the horses out for a ride later".

Cheryl liked this idea and said "sounds great, but first I need to eat something".

-

Once they finished breakfast Ryan got directions to the flea market which didn't seem to be too hard to find.

Ryan loved going to places like this because you never knew what you would find, but he could tell that Cheryl was not having the best time, "Hey, would you rather go somewhere else?"

"No, we can stay a little bit longer. I'm just feeling hot; maybe we could get something to drink".

"Sure, I'll go find something for you". He looked around and saw a bench and suggested she sit down while he got her something to drink.

After getting Cheryl something the drink the rest of their time at the flea market went without incident and they were soon on their way back to the bed and breakfast.

Ryan had found a few items that he didn't really need but thought would look great in his living room. He even managed to find a nice little silver necklace for Cheryl, but he was waiting until later to give it to her.

When they got back they picked out a couple of horses and for the next couple of hours rode around the property; stopping a few times to take in the scenery. By the time they got back to the barn Ryan was tired and sore; it had been awhile since he had been on a horse.

When they got back to the room Ryan lay down on the bed to take a nap. Cheryl said she wasn't tired and decided to go out to the back porch to read the book she had brought along.

When dinner came Ryan had asked Jill if they could have a table by themselves and was happy when she said yes. They had a wonderful meal consisting of lobster followed by desert; Jill's famous homemade apple pie. When they were finished and sipping on some coffee Ryan pulled out the necklace he had bought. "This was a wonderful idea you had and I got you something as my way of saying thank you". He pulled out a box and handed it to her.

"Oh Ryan, you didn't have to get me anything". She quickly opened it and saw what was inside, "Oh Ryan, this is beautiful, you shouldn't have". She pulled out the necklace to inspect it, but as soon as she looked at the back the excited look on her face was soon replaced with a frown. "Who's Celia?"

Ryan looked confused "what, why are you asking me that?"

She shoved the back of the necklace into his face "the name Celia is engraved on the back, who is she?"

"Oh this, I bought this at the flea market and the name must be the previous owner. I didn't even know it was there". He took the necklace from her hands "Here, let me put it on you".

She slapped his hand away as he was about to put it around her neck, "I don't want a necklace with some other woman's name on it".

Ryan was a little shocked at what just happened and took his hand away, "Ok, if I have it removed will you accept it then?"

"Oh, I don't want this to ruin our evening". She stood up and pulled Ryan to his feet, "Come on, I want to go upstairs now".

Ryan allowed himself to be led back to their room. He didn't know what Cheryl's problem was with the necklace, but he soon forgot all about it.

-

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On Sunday Ryan and Cheryl said good bye to Jill and her husband Charles and promised to come back. Ryan had the car all packed up and the two of the headed back home. They made a few stops along the way so by the time they pulled up to Ryan's condo it was late.

Cheryl helped Ryan with the luggage as they made their way up the front door. Ryan opened the door and, turned on the light and stepped inside. What he saw made him drop the suitcase he was carrying. His condo looked like a bomb had gone off inside but his first thoughts were of Cheryl. He blocked her way inside and turned to her as she was standing on the front porch. "Cheryl, I need you to wait outside while I check the inside. I'm not sure it's safe to go in just yet?"

Cheryl was confused and tried to get a look inside, "What's wrong Ryan, why wouldn't it be safe". As she finished she finally caught a glimpse of the front room. "Oh my god Ryan, what happened in there?"

"I don't know, but I need to make sure that there is no one inside. I want you to stay out here and call the police; can you do that for me?"

"OK Ryan, but please be careful".

Ryan entered his home and out of instinct he reached for his gun; only his gun wasn't there, it was back in his locker. He looked around for something that would work as a weapon and finally settled on an umbrella that was sitting next to the door. With his weapon in hand, he cautiously made his way through every room.

There didn't seem to be one room that was spared. Every room he went into had his stuff all over the place, but it was his bedroom that made him stop dead in his tracks. What he saw made him glad that Cheryl was not with him. He didn't think she would be able to handle the sight of all her clothes ripped to shreds and the words 'you don't deserve him' written on his dresser mirror.

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	7. Chapter 7

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Calleigh and Frank came over to Ryan's place after hearing about his break in and offered to process the scene. They were quite disturbed to see how his place had been trashed, but after seeing the note written on the bedroom mirror, they knew it must have something to do with Cheryl and her recent move into Ryan's condo.

After everyone left Ryan started to put his place back together. He had suggested to Cheryl that she spend the night somewhere else while he cleaned up, but she said she was not going to be scared out of her own home. She convinced Ryan that she could handle things and said it was good therapy if she was ever to get over this.

After they had cleaned up most of the rooms, they were too tired to do much of anything else. Cheryl still had her night clothes packed in the suitcase and wore one to bed since all of her clothes in the closet were not in shreds. Ryan had promised to take her clothes shopping in the morning so that she could start building up her wardrobe again. This seemed to make her happy, but Ryan was still worried about her.

When morning finally came Ryan was supposed to go back to work, but after talking to Horatio he was told to take the day off and take care of things. He was grateful for the extra day off since his place was still in need of work and he really couldn't stand to let the mess hang around anymore that it already had. He also wanted to be with Cheryl to make sure she was all right. He was surprised at how she was taking all of this, but he figured that last night may not have sunken in yet. He was prepared to be there for her when it did.

Before waking her up, Ryan finished cleaning up the rest of the condo and got ready for the day.

After Cheryl got up and got ready, Ryan took her out for a nice breakfast and then took her shopping. After a couple of hours he had managed to spend over $500.00 on her and thought it was time to go home. He knew he would need to put in loads of overtime to be able to pay off the credit card bill, but she was worth every bit of time and money.

When they got home he could see that the shopping had really helped because she was acting like nothing had happened at all. He had to admit to himself that she was made of tougher stuff than he thought. Most women would have been scared to death if the same thing had happened to them. It was how she was acting that made him decide it was time to discuss what had occurred and to find out if she knew who may have done it. He figured after dinner was the best time to bring up the subject.

-

As Ryan was preparing dinner his phone rang. When he picked it up he looked at the caller ID and answered it, "Hey Calleigh, what's up?"

"Ryan, have you had a chance to talk to Cheryl about last night yet?"

"No, I was going to bring it up after dinner, why? Did you find something?"

"We looked at the evidence that was collected from your place and there was one thing that we did find. The note on the mirror had been written in lipstick so we took all the cases we could find to see if any matched. We were able to find one that did match, but the only prints that were on the case belonged to Cheryl's sister Amanda?"

"What, that doesn't make any sense. Why would she do something like this to her own sister?" Ryan paused on the phone before adding to this reply, "You said her prints were on the case, are you telling me we have her prints in the system?"

"Yes we got a match in the database so I looked up Amanda's history and it appears she was involved in a domestic disturbance about a year ago. She was accused of trashing her boyfriend's car, but her father was able to have the charges cleared. Fortunately for us her prints were still on file".

Ryan didn't know Amanda all that well, but it seems hard to believe she had been arrested before. But he didn't have time to worry about her at the moment. He had to think about the current situation, "Has she been brought in for questioning yet?"

"Frank is on his way over to her place right now. I think we have enough evidence to charge her, but seeing it is only a misdemeanor she could be out tonight. I thought I should warn you in case she comes back and does it again".

"Thanks Calleigh. I'll wait to hear what she has to say before I tell Cheryl. I don't want to upset her if I can help it". Ryan ended that call and put the phone down before finishing up with dinner.

Ryan set the table for dinner and called Cheryl. When she didn't answer he went in search of her and found her lying on the bed sleeping. He went over and sat on the edge of the bed and started stroking her hair, "Hey honey, I have dinner ready. Are you hungry?"

Cheryl rolled over and looked up at Ryan, "Oh, I must have dozed off, I'm sorry". She sat up and snuggled into Ryan's waiting arms. "What did you make me for dinner?"

"I didn't have much in the house so I made some spaghetti".

She pulled herself away from Ryan and stood up. "I don't want spaghetti, maybe we should go out to eat?"

Ryan really didn't feel like going out, plus after spending so much money today he wasn't really looking forward to using even more, "I don't know, I already made the food, I think we should just have a nice meal at home".

Cheryl acted disappointed, but followed Ryan into the kitchen. "Since you made the dinner why don't you sit down and let me serve you?"

"Ok". Ryan went and sat down at the table to wait. As he sat there he watched Cheryl in the kitchen; a smile formed on his face as he thought about her doing something like this every night with him.

As Cheryl brought over two glasses filled with wine she noticed Ryan, "Hey, what are you smiling at?"

Ryan shook the thought out of his head when he realized he was caught staring, "Oh nothing, I was just thinking about something".

She sat on his lap after placing the glasses on the tables, "Oh come on, tell me what you were thinking about?" She started tickling him and making him laugh, "Come on tell me".

Ryan gave in and finally told her "I was just thinking what it would be like if we were to do this every night".

Cheryl got up and said "you're just being silly now" as she walked back to get the food.

With two plates in hand, Cheryl was walking back to the table when she suddenly tripped on something; sending the two plates flying toward the table. When they crashed down they also took the two filled wine glasses with them.

Ryan was covered in food and broken glass, but his first instinct was to stand up and make sure she was ok. He went over to help her up off the floor, all the while trying to avoid the mess around him, "Cheryl, are you all right?"

Once she was up she looked at Ryan and started laughing "I'm fine, but I don't think your clothes made it".

Ryan took a look at himself and couldn't help but laugh along with her. "This was one of my favorite shirts too". He looked back at the table and said "It doesn't look like the food made it either. Well I guess you get your wish about eating out tonight". He started walking toward the bathroom so he could change.

As soon as he got into the bathroom he took his shirt off and then looked in the mirror. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Cheryl standing behind him, "Whoa, I didn't even hear you come in, you scared me".

"I'm sorry, but I just came in here to tell you that I really don't feel like going out anymore. Maybe we could just snuggle up with some popcorn or something".

Ryan didn't have to think about it for very long, "That sounds good. I'll join you after I clean things up ok". He proceeded to get his shirt soaking in the sink before he tackled the mess.

It took Ryan about an hour to properly clean the kitchen so by the time he went into the bedroom he found that Cheryl had fallen asleep. He didn't want to wake her again so he decided to go out and read in the living room. He had really wanted to talk to her about the break in and her sister being charged with it, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Ryan woke up hearing Cheryl shouting, "Ryan, why didn't you tell me about Amanda?"

"What", He sat up; rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What's wrong Cheryl?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Amanda was arrested last night?"

Ryan could see that she was mad and knew he should have told her last night, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it didn't seem like the right time to mention it?"

She was becoming more agitated as the conversation continued, "She's my sister and you didn't think it was the right time to mention it. Exactly when were you planning on telling me?" She paused to take a breath and then continued, "You should have told me, but instead I have to hear about from my father, who by the way is pissed as hell. He is down at the station right now bailing her out".

Ryan didn't like to see her getting all worked up so he stood up to try and make it better, "Come on Cheryl, I only found out last night. I was planning on tell you after dinner, but you fell asleep". He went to put his arm around her but was shocked when she batted it away.

"Don't touch me. A hug is not going to make me forgive you right now". She moved away from him and went toward the closet where she proceeded to pull out an outfit to change into. "I told my father that I would meet him at the station so that we could figure out what this was all about". She didn't say a word while she finished changing into different clothes, but as soon as she was done she started up again, "I can't believe that she would have had anything to do with the break in; there must be some other explanation".

Ryan walked over to Cheryl, "Well at least let me go with you".

"You had your chance; now get out of my way". With surprising strength she shoved him out of her way, causing him to fall backward; hitting his head on the bedside table as he went down.

Ryan lay on the floor for a few seconds trying to figure out what just happened. This was definitely not the way he had pictured his day starting off. He slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his head; he was going to have a nice little bump there.

He got up off the floor and went to see if Cheryl was still around. He realized that she had already left when he didn't see her purse sitting in its usual place. He also noticed that his car keys were missing, which meant he would have to find an alternate way of going after her.

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By the time Ryan got to the station he found out that Cheryl and her father had already come and gone and that her father had paid the bail money and taken Amanda home with him. But this was all that anyone knew.

Ryan tried to call Cheryl on her phone, but it only went to her voice mail. He didn't know if she was too busy to pick it up or is she was still mad at him.

At this point there was really nothing he could do but wait for her to contact him. Since he was at work he decided to check in with Calleigh to see if she had found anything different with the evidence collected from his condo.

He found Calleigh hard at work in the lab, "Hi Calleigh".

Calleigh finished what she was doing before looking up to reply, "Hi Ryan. I wasn't expecting to see you at work today".

"Well I wasn't exactly sure myself, but I came to find Cheryl. She came here after learning about Amanda's arrest".

"Oh, why didn't you come together?"

Ryan didn't really want to tell her, but he knew she would keep asking "Well, I didn't really get a chance to tell her about Amanda last night so when she found out about it this morning she became angry and stormed off".

Calleigh gave him a sympathetic smile and said, "Oh, I see".

"Yeah, so, have you had a chance to look over the rest of the evidence to see if there was any other explanation of who broke into my place?"

Calleigh had an unhappy look on her face, "I'm sorry Ryan; I didn't find anything else. From what we found the only suspect is Amanda, but there is a chance that her fingerprints got on the lipstick case because it belonged to her and Cheryl had only borrowed it. I know that it is a stretch, but it is all that I have".

Ryan considered what she said, "well it is a possibility, but then who else would have written those words. I think the two things are too much of a coincident to not be from the same person". He absently rubbed the bump on his head before continuing, "I just don't know what to do Calleigh. I really don't want to come between two sisters".

"Well I do know one thing; it looks really bad for Amanda. I would suggest you keep your distance for awhile".

"That might be kind of difficult considering that Cheryl is living with me".

Calleigh gave him another sympathetic smile, "Well I am sure you will think of something. How long are you planning on sticking around. I could use your help with a few things". She thought it might be a good idea to take his mind off of things.

"I really hadn't thought about it, but I suppose I could stay for awhile as long as you can give me a ride home later. Cheryl took my car this morning".

"Sure, I can do that".

Ryan put on a lab coat and helped Calleigh with various items from her last case. They finished around lunch time so he offered to buy her lunch when she took him home.

Ryan had appreciated the work since it took his mind off of Cheryl, but now that he was on his way back home he couldn't help but think about her and how he was going to make sure what ever happened at his condo didn't happen again. He had not really wanted to think about it, but it was something they couldn't just sweep under the rug and forget about. Someone was obviously not happy about his relationship with Cheryl and until they found out whom; he felt she was in danger. Even though the break in was pretty harmless in nature; who's to say that next time it wouldn't get physical. He couldn't take that chance, and not knowing where she was at the moment or knowing that she may be with the very person who started all of this was driving him nuts.

-

He was very silent the whole way over to his place and barely said anything when Calleigh pulled through a drive thru to pick up some fast food to eat. He just had too much to think about.

When they pulled up to his condo he was extremely disappointed to see his car had not returned; for that meant that Cheryl had not come back yet. He just wished she would call him. She had to know by now how many times he had been trying to call her.

Calleigh could see that this whole incident was bothering Ryan and she wished he would just open up to her and talk about it; he was so closed off when it came to personal stuff. "Ryan, we're here".

When she saw that he was making no attempt to get out of the car she called him again, "Ryan, you're home, should we go inside and eat our lunch? Maybe you could tell me what is bothering you".

Ryan finally looked at Calleigh, "Oh sorry, I was thinking about Cheryl". He undid his seat belt and got out of the car, pulling his house keys out of his pocket.

Once inside he immediately went to the phone to see if there were any messages. When he saw the machine read zero he tried calling her again only to get her voice mail. He decided not to leave a message this time since it seemed pointless.

Calleigh walked into the kitchen after him and set the bag of fast food down on the counter, "So where do you want to eat this? I thought it was such a nice day that we could go outside and eat it on your patio?"

Ryan gave her a weak unconvincing smile, "Yeah that sounds good". He went to the cupboard to get a couple of plates for their sandwiches and followed her outside. It was a beautiful day, one that he wished he was spending with Cheryl.

-

They ate their food in silence since Ryan rejected Calleigh's repeated attempts at conversation. Ryan knew that she was concerned and wanted him to talk about it, but he didn't feel like it. Maybe once he knew Cheryl was ok he would say something. As he sat there looking off into the distance he heard someone inside and immediately got up to investigate.

He went inside and saw that someone had gone into the bathroom. "Cheryl, is that you in there?"

"Who do you think it would be?" Cheryl finally opened the door and faced Ryan, "did you think it would be her?" she was pointing to Calleigh who had come inside to see what was going on.

Ryan looked behind his back to see where Cheryl was pointing and once he knew he looked back, "Where have you been, I've been worried about you. I don't know how many times I tried to call you".

Cheryl walked past him, gave Calleigh a dirty look and walked into the kitchen. "I know exactly how many times you tried to call me, but I was busy".

Before Ryan followed Cheryl to the kitchen Calleigh stopped him and said "I should really be going, I'll talk to you later".

"OK Calleigh, thanks for being here for me". He gave her a hug before she took off.

He walked back to Cheryl and saw that she still looked angry.

She slammed a glass down on the counter and gave him a cold look "So what was that all about. I'm gone to take care of my sister and you're already here with another woman?"

Ryan didn't know what to make of this accusation, he was actually kind of shocked that she even thought this way, "What are you talking about, were friends. She brought me back home since I didn't have a car".

She took a sip of water and was silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. She finally gazed at Ryan; her tone of voice completely changed when she said "I'm sorry Ryan, I don't know why I am so mad at you. This has just been very tough on me and I should not be taking my frustrations out on you". She walked over to him and gave him a long and hard hug; grateful that he responded in kind.

Ryan knew that whatever was bothering her was forgotten for the moment. He held on to her not willing to let go, "It's ok, I can see how this would be hard for you. I just want to make sure you are ok and that you are safe".

She pulled away from him embrace just enough to look up into his eyes, "I love you Ryan".

Ryan smiled and responded back by saying, "I love you too".

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	9. Chapter 9

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After admitting their love for one another they sat and talked until it was dark out.

Cheryl told Ryan all about her morning; which consisted of going to the police station and talking to her father and Amanda. She also told him that Amanda had denied everything about the break in. Their father suggested that Amanda stay with him until they get this all sorted out. He was unwilling to believe what had occurred and was hoping it was all a big misunderstanding.

She told Ryan that she had not been with either of them all that long since she could not face her sister. She had spent most of the time out driving and thinking about everything. She could not understand why her sister would not want her to be happy. She also refused to believe her sister had done anything, but with her prior arrest it was hard not to think it was possible.

When they both realized it was getting dark out Ryan made a quick snack for them to eat and suggested they both get to bed early. It was not hard to convince Cheryl of this; she was tired and really wanted nothing more than to snuggle up with Ryan.

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It had been 2 weeks now since the break in and many things had changed. Ryan's first priority was to keep Cheryl safe so he had new locks installed and added a highly sophisticated alarm system.

He also had a chance to review the evidence they had collected from his home and had to admit that the only person who could have done this was Amanda. He may not have spent a whole lot of time around her; but it had been just enough time to think she was not the type to be jealous. He wanted to pursue the investigation even further to see if there was anyone else who could be involved, but he also didn't want to get in the middle of the two sisters anymore than he already felt he was. He had talked to Calleigh about this and she had offered to look more closely into her background and her prior arrest. For this he was grateful.

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Since Calleigh was looking after Amanda and the case Ryan had more time to devote to Cheryl and he was planning on surprising her at school later that day. He was very impressed that she had not let this get in her way of finishing her 3rd year at law school. He had not been sure if she would have felt like going back for awhile, but had been pleased when she seemed to let the experience fuel her desire to get her life back to normal. She was going at full speed to get her paper ready for the end of the year and had actually been spending more time away from home; which is why he wanted to surprise her today.

He had the whole afternoon and hopefully evening planned. He was going to show up right after her last class and take her to the park for a nice afternoon snack. Then it was off to the art exhibit that had opened up last week because he knew that she wanted to go see it. After that he hoped to take her for a nice quiet romantic dinner and hopefully desert back at home.

He finished up his work and quickly left the station before anyone could stop him. On his way over he picked up the food they would be eating while sitting lazily in the park.

He drove up to the school and found a spot close to where he knew Cheryl would be coming out. As he sat there in his car waiting he kept watching for people to come out of the building. He didn't know if she would come out right after her class since she didn't even know he was coming, but he hoped she would.

After 15 minutes had gone by he finally saw people exiting the building. He was just about to get out of the car and wait for her when he saw her coming out with her lab partner Chad. He knew that the two of them were working very closely together on her paper, but what he saw shocked him.

Cheryl came out holding or rather dragging Chad by the arm to a bench located under one of the trees by the door. As soon as they sat down on the bench they started kissing each other. Ryan had to blink his eyes a few times to make sure he was seeing everything correctly. He wasn't sure what to do except sit there and stare. When he couldn't take it anymore he got out of the car and walked over to where Cheryl and Chad were sitting.

It took Cheryl a few seconds to realize that she was being watched. When she finally looked away from Chad her mouth dropped open when she saw that it was Ryan standing there. She could tell he was not happy and stood up to say something.

"Ryan, this is not what it looks like, I can explain everything".

Ryan didn't wait for her explanation. He turned around and started walking away, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was Cheryl. He looked behind her and saw that Chad must have made his getaway; which was probably a good thing. He shrugged off her hand and continued to walk back toward his car.

Cheryl wasn't going to let him go, "Ryan, wait I want to talk to you about this". She had to walk quicker to keep up with him and stopped when he finally reached his car. "Will you please listen to me Ryan, I don't really have a very good excuse for what you just saw, but I have something to tell you and I was scared. Chad was trying to help me with this all day and things just got out of control. You have to believe me when I say I'm sorry".

Ryan stood there trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it was hard after what he just witnessed. "Cheryl, I don't care about your excuses. You can't possibly have anything to say to me that will make that ok".

Cheryl chose that exact moment to sit on the curb. She put her face down into her hands and started sobbing. After a few moments she raised her head up just enough to mumble something.

Ryan had a hard time hearing what she said so he moved closer to her, "What did you say, I didn't hear you?"

She looked into Ryan's eyes and repeated what she had just said before, "I'm pregnant ".

Ryan just stood there for a second letting the words sink in before he replied, "What, your pregnant?"

Cheryl stood up and took Ryan's hand, "Yes I'm pregnant and I am going to have our baby. I wanted to say something to you yesterday but I was so scared that this would ruin our life together that I wanted to pretend I had never met you. Chad was really trying to get me to tell you when we just starting getting closer and then started kissing. I think I was just trying to forget everything; I'm so sorry for what happened". She started sobbing again and sat back down on the curb.

Ryan joined her and put his arm around her, "Everything will be ok, I promise. I will take care of you and the baby; you have nothing to worry about". He kissed her on the cheek and persuaded her to stand up and get into the car with him.

He drove her back to their place where they sat and snuggled on the couch. They didn't say anything to each other and eventually she fell asleep.

Ryan picked her up and carried her to their bed and covered her up. He then went back out to the living room to think. He had been thinking about this the whole time they sat on the couch and now that he was alone he knew what he had to do. He was going to ask her to marry him and try and make the most of this. He was also going to make sure that what he saw today didn't get brought up. He didn't understand her reason for why it happened, but then again he didn't want her to get upset. She was going to have his child and he needed to do whatever he could to protect his family.

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Over the next several days Ryan made plans to start his new life with Cheryl. He had always wanted to get married and thought it would be something that his wife to be would be busy planning, but instead he found that he was doing all the work. He had not yet asked Cheryl but he was planning on doing it tonight. He was also suggesting that they don't make a big affair of it and that maybe a simple gathering of a few friends at the court house would be the best. He never liked the idea of a big wedding and he hoped Cheryl agreed. He knew that she was not into big events either so he was pretty sure this would work.

He told Cheryl that he was going to make dinner that night and that he really wanted to discuss something important with her. He couldn't tell if he she had guessed what it was that he wanted to talk about, but it didn't really matter. As long as she was willing to listen to him and not say no then everything would work out.

He had everything all ready and asked Cheryl to join him for dinner. They talked a little during the meal but when it was over and the dishes had been cleared Ryan took her hand and led her outside onto the terrace. He could see that she looked a little hesitant about all of this but he needed to do this.

He got down on his knee and took her hand and said "Cheryl, I love you and want to be able to take care of you and our baby the right way, so would you consider being my wife?"

Cheryl took a second before saying "Yes, oh Ryan yes I'll be your wife".

Ryan stood up and kissed her.

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	10. Chapter 10

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Ryan had been happy when Cheryl told him she would marry him, but that was 2 weeks ago and she was still refusing to discuss any wedding plans. He suggested that they talk to her father and make plans to have a small ceremony at the court house, but she kept saying that it wasn't a good time to talk to him. All she would say is that she promised they would go see him when the time was right. He was beginning to wonder if any of this had to do with her sister. She was currently living with their father and maybe she was scared to go over there and face Amanda. He thought about having her father over to the condo but he didn't want to upset Cheryl by going about it without her.

Ryan decided he needed to talk to somebody about this so he chose Calleigh. The both of them were driving out to a crime scene that day to look for more evidence and it was at least a 30 minute car ride, so he figured he could use this time to talk.

With the hummer all packed up Ryan drove out to the crime scene with Calleigh in the passenger seat. Both were silent for the first 5 minutes of the trip before Ryan finally broke the silence, "Hey Calleigh, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure Ryan, what do you want to talk about?"

Ryan wasn't sure exactly where to start so he decided to go with the most obvious, "Well, you know that Cheryl and I are going to get married, but I have a feeling that Cheryl may be having second thoughts and I am not sure what to do about it".

"What makes you think she is having second thoughts?"

"Well, she won't discuss the wedding plans with me and said that now is not the right time to talk to her father about any of this. I'm would really like to have his blessing before we get married, but it's almost like she is trying to avoid this".

Calleigh took a moment before saying "Well do you think it has anything to do with her sister; she is living with their father isn't she?"

"I thought of that and I can understand why she wouldn't want to go out to her father's house so I thought about having him over to our place for dinner. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to arrange this without saying anything to Cheryl?"

There was a slight hesitation in her voice as she responded "I don't think that would be a very good way of starting your life together. I think if you want him over you should make sure she knows about it". Calleigh paused before continuing, "There is one thing I was wondering and I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you in such a hurry to work on the wedding plans. You only just got engaged. Wouldn't it be better to take your time and wait until she is ready? Marriage is a big commitment and she may just be scared".

Ryan knew this question was going to come up and he had debated on whether or not to tell her about the baby. He really didn't want to say anything too early in the pregnancy for fear of jinxing it, but he trusted Calleigh and knew that if anyone deserved to know about this she was the one. "There is a reason why I asked Cheryl to marry me and I would like to marry her before it gets too late". He stopped at this moment not sure of how to put it. He knew he loved Cheryl, and had they been together longer they may not have needed a baby to bring them together as husband and wife, but ever since he found out about the baby he had stopped thinking about their relationship and focused on the new family they were creating. He just hoped that their love would not be all about the baby when the day finally came and that there would be more to their love. "I asked Cheryl to marry me after she told me she was pregnant with my child".

"Oh my god Ryan, you're going to be a father. I am so happy for you". When she learned about the marriage she had wondered if it had anything to do with an unplanned pregnancy but she knew Ryan would say something when the time was right.

Ryan really wanted her input on this and had to ask "so what do you think I should do then?"

Calleigh felt honored that Ryan had confided this information to her, but she really didn't know what to say to him since she really didn't' know Cheryl or her family that well. "You know Ryan, I would love to help you here but I think that this is something you need to decide for yourself".

Ryan had hoped for more from Calleigh, but he understood her hesitancy to say anything more. To alleviate any uneasiness from their conversation he changed the subject and they spent the rest of the ride talking about the case.

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Once they finished up at the crime scene they took the additional evidence they had found back to the lab for analysis. Neither Cheryl nor the baby came up in their conversation again.

When it was time to go Ryan made his way out the parking lot. It was dark out by the time he left and he was anxious to get home. As he was digging his keys out his pocket he heard his name being called. He turned in the direction of the voice and found that it was Amanda who was standing there. "Amanda, what are you doing here?"

Amanda looked a little troubled as she came closer. She made sure to stop before she got too close. "Ryan, I just had to talk to you and I thought you might not agree to meet me so I took a chance on catching you as you came out of work".

Ryan didn't like this situation at all and couldn't hide the fact that he was nervous about running in her. Since the incident at his condo he had not talked to Amanda. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I heard that Cheryl is pregnant and you are going to marry her, is this right?"

The nervousness Ryan had been feeling before increased at the mention of Cheryl and the baby. He didn't know how she knew about this but she was the last person he wanted to talk to, "I don't think I should be discussing this with you Amanda. This is between me and your sister and we don't want any trouble from you".

The look on Amanda's face was enough for anyone to know she was hurt by Ryan's comment, but she didn't let it stop her, "Ryan, you probably don't believe me, but I did not break in to your condo. I don't know what's going on, but whatever evidence they say they have was not left there by me".

"Look Amanda, this is not the best time or place to be discussing this. I would suggest that if you want to talk about it you come to the station tomorrow and I will have Calleigh talk to you".

"Please Ryan, I am really worried about you and I don't want to see you get hurt".

"Why would you be worried about me, after what you did at the condo it's your sister that I am worried about". Ryan looked at his watch and decided it was time to go, "Look, I need to get going but I promise you that if you come to the station tomorrow someone can talk to you".

"I can understand why you don't want to talk to me but I just want to tell you that you need to be careful about Cheryl. I don't think you have gotten a chance to really get to know her; she is not who you think she is". She stopped momentarily to look around and when she saw they were still alone she continued, "You need to ask yourself how much do you really know about Cheryl. I know she is hiding things from you, she did this with her last boyfriend and things didn't end well between them. You also need to make sure she is really pregnant because she pulled that one on her last boyfriend too".

Ryan was just about to respond when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and once he saw that it was Cheryl calling he turned away from Amanda before answering it, "Hi honey, what's up?"

"Ryan, it's late; where are you? Are you still at work?"

Ryan could tell by the tone of her voice that she was not very happy that he was late, "I'm on my way home right now. You just caught me as I was getting into my car. I will be home shortly".

As if Cheryl had not heard a word Ryan said she replied "Are you with her right now?"

Ryan froze as he thought about Amanda and had to wonder how she would have known who he was with, "Who are you talking about; I told you I was just about to hop in the car and come home".

"You know who I am talking about. I want to know if you are still with Calleigh; is she the reason you're late".

Ryan didn't like her accusation, "I will be home shortly; we can talk about this when I get home". He ended the call before she could respond and then turned around to find out exactly what Amanda had meant when she mentioned Cheryl's previous boyfriend. When he looked in the spot Amanda had just been standing in he found that it was empty and that she had left when he was on the phone. By the time he realized that Amanda had left it was too late to run after her. He walked back to his car and drove back home, unsure of his next move.

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When he pulled up to his condo he found Cheryl waiting outside for him. She stared at him coldly until he got out of his car and walked over to where she was standing, "Why did you hang up on me?

He didn't like her tone of voice, but knew he would suffer if he didn't say something. "I didn't like where the conversation was going; beside I didn't want to talk about it over the phone".

"Well your home now, are you going to talk to me now?"

Ryan was tired and all he really wanted to do was go inside and get a bite to eat. He started walking toward the front door but was stopped as Cheryl blocked his way. "Please Cheryl; can we talk about this later? I am really tired and hungry and don't have the desire to talk about it right now".

Cheryl didn't say another word about it and walked into house slamming the door behind her. When Ryan went after he found that she had locked the door. He used his key to unlock it and found that she had the deadbolt on. He knocked on the door as he said "Come on Cheryl; let me in so we can talk about this".

When she didn't answer the door he sat down on the steps to think about his next move. It must have been about 15 minutes when he heard the door open. He stood up and turned around to see Cheryl standing there. If he was correct she looked like she was sorry. It wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed.

"Oh Ryan, I am so sorry about getting mad at you and locking you out of your own home. I don't know why I acted like this. Please come inside; I have dinner waiting for you". She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

She led him to the kitchen where there were candles lit on the table. Two plates were set up waiting to be filled with whatever Cheryl had made; and from the smell of it she had made spaghetti.

She made sure he was seated at the table before she said anything, "I hope you're hungry, I made one of your favorites". She then went up behind him and put her arms around his neck; curving her head around his in order to give him a deep and passionate kiss. After a few moments she let go and walked over to the stove to get the food. As soon as the plates were filled she poured him a glass of wine and then filled up her own glass.

Once she was seated she picked up her glass and said "I would like to propose a toast to the man I love. I promise to never be jealous again".

Ryan picked up his glass and clicked it with Cheryl's when she was done. He took a sip of the wine and remembered it was his favorite as well. It was also at this exact moment that he realized what Cheryl was about to do. She was just about to take a sip of wine from her glass "You shouldn't be drinking Cheryl, not while you're pregnant".

Cheryl removed the glass from her face and immediately apologized, "Oh my god Ryan, I had forgotten". She put her glass down and smiled at Ryan, "I love the way you are always looking out for me".

"And the baby, don't forget. I am looking out for our baby".

Cheryl produced another smile at the mention of the baby, "Yes, I must not forget about our baby".

The rest of dinner was quiet as they ate their food. Ryan offered to clean up the kitchen when they were done and told Cheryl to go and lay down for a while.

By the time Ryan was finished he went into the bedroom and found that Cheryl was already fast asleep. He put on his pajamas and joined her in the bed. It wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep.

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	11. Chapter 11

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Ryan woke sometime in the middle of the night and was unable to get back to sleep. There was just enough light from the moon to illuminate his bedroom so he sat up and watched as Cheryl slept next to him. He couldn't help but think back to when he first met Cheryl and how much they have been through since. He was pretty sure he loved her, but for some reason he couldn't stop thinking about what Amanda had said. He didn't want to admit it, but there was always something odd about the way Cheryl acted which meant there may be a sliver of truth in what was said about her. But all of this was a little too late; there was a baby to think about now and no matter what he thought of Cheryl, she was still going to be the child's mother.

After laying in bed for awhile he realized it was time to get up. He was actually looking forward to going into work because it meant he would have more time to think about his life. Whenever he was with Cheryl he was always consumed with her wants and needs that he never took anytime for himself. Now more than ever he needed this time away to think about everything in order to make sure he was making the right decisions. For some reason he wasn't sure of everything after talking to Amanda.

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Ryan arrived at work and went straight to the lab to work on the case he had been investigating. After a few hours he was called out to another case and before he knew it his day was over. For some reason he was not looking forward to going home and suggested to a few friends that they go out for a few drinks. He was happy when they agreed and spent a few hours thinking of nothing in particular in the company of people he liked.

By the time Ryan looked at his watch it was getting late and he knew it was time to go home. He just hoped he was not in for another fight like last night. But if Calleigh was right it was probably just the pregnancy hormones getting the best of Cheryl and that is why she acted out yesterday. He hadn't planned on telling Calleigh about last night but he was glad he did.

When Ryan pulled up to his condo he was surprised to see the inside was dark. He wondered if it was later than he realized and that Cheryl had gone to bed. When he got inside he found he was alone and wondered where she was. He went into the kitchen and turned on the light. His eyes were immediately drawn to a note sitting on the table. It was from Cheryl and said that she had gone out with some friends and would be home later. Well it seemed like he was not the only one who needed to be with friends.

Ryan made himself something to eat and sat down in the living room to wait for Cheryl. As he sat there eating, he felt of pang of regret as this reminded him of how his life used to be. Once again doubt was creeping into his life and he had to wonder why. As he was sitting there trying to get the thought out of his mind he heard a car pull up outside. He got up and went to the window and saw that it was parked along the curb. He thought the car looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where he had seen it before. He went to another window to see if he could see who was inside the car. He couldn't see the driver but the moment he saw Cheryl sitting in the passenger seat he remembered where he had seen the car. It belonged to her lab partner Chad.

As he watched Cheryl finally got out of the car. He backed away from the window and went back to the living room to wait. He didn't want her knowing he had been watching her. When the door opened up he got up and went over to greet her. "Hi Cheryl, did you have a good time tonight".

Cheryl removed her shoes before replying, "Hi Ryan, I did have a good time tonight. I was really missing my friends so when they asked if I wanted to go out tonight I jumped at the chance".

As Ryan listened to her reply he thought that she sounded a little off and had to wonder if she had been drinking, "Who did you go out with tonight?"

"Oh I just went with a few girlfriends from school. I would have asked you to join us after work but I thought you would have been too tired. I know you didn't sleep well last night". She walked over to him and put her arms around his waist, pulling him in to give him a kiss.

As she got closer to his face he suddenly pushed her away. "Have you been drinking?" The smell of alcohol on her breath was unmistakable.

"No, why would you think that?"

"I smell alcohol on your breath. You can't deny you have been drinking". He could see she was getting mad but he was only concerned for the baby at this moment and didn't care what she felt.

"I haven't been drinking Ryan; I don't know why my breath smells like this. I don't appreciate your accusations". She started walking away toward the bedroom.

Ryan saw that she was done talking but he wasn't, "Hey were not done talking yet, don't walk away from me".

"I'm done talking and I am going to bed now".

Ryan followed her into the bedroom "Look, I am just worried about the baby and don't think you should be drinking".

Cheryl turned to face Ryan; her eyes on the verge of tears "I swear to you I wasn't drinking. I don't know why you smell alcohol but I wasn't drinking". When she was done the tears could not be held in any longer. She sat on the bed and put her head into her hands as she wiped away the tears.

Ryan didn't want to see her getting upset. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, "Ok I believe you were not drinking, but I just want what is best for the baby and I was concerned".

She leaned into his arms as her tears dried up, "Oh Ryan, how did I get so lucky to end with somebody like you".

"I don't know, but let's not think about that right now. I think we have both had a long day and we should probably get some sleep".

Ryan slipped into his pajamas and waited in the bed while Cheryl did the same. When she climbed in she snuggled into Ryan's shoulder once again before falling asleep. Ryan looked down at her and wasn't quite sure of what he was feeling at the moment. He didn't want her upset but he knew she had not been entirely truthful about tonight. He wanted to ask about Chad but in the end he was glad he didn't bring up the topic. It would only have made things worse for him and he wasn't in any mood for a big fight.

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Ryan woke up with a plan. All night he thought about his feelings and the one thing that that kept coming back was how he felt about this relationship. It finally dawned on him that he didn't have much to say when it came to their future and he was hoping to change that. He wanted to make Cheryl his wife before the baby was born so he was planning on inviting her father over for dinner this week. But before he was going to do this he wanted to make sure that Cheryl saw a doctor to make sure her pregnancy was progressing as it should. He was not convinced that she had not been drinking and he was concerned with the baby's development. It was this concern that found him making an appointment at the end of the week with a doctor since he knew she had not seen anyone yet.

When Cheryl woke up he told her about the appointment but decided not to say anything about her father yet. After all he had not talked to her father and wasn't even sure he would come over. Once he knew for sure he would tell Cheryl. Now all he needed to do was to pick a day for the wedding and start planning.

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	12. Chapter 12

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It was nearing the end of the week and he could tell that Cheryl was not pleased with everything that he was doing. She had insisted that she would see her own doctor when an appointment opened up but in the end consented to going to see his doctor. It was hard for him to understand why she was making such a fuss about this and wasn't sure how she would react to seeing her father this weekend. The only trouble with the second plan was that he was unable to get a hold of her father on the phone so he was going to do the only thing he could think of; and that was to go over to his house and talk to him face to face. The only problem with this plan was that he risked running in Amanda, but it was something he was willing to do.

He chose Wednesday to drive over and see if Cheryl's father was at home. He left work early so as not to arise any suspicion at home. It took about 30 minutes to drive to the house and when he pulled up to the driveway he thought the house looked very impressive. Cheryl's father obviously had money.

He got out of the car and headed for the front door. He really hoped this went well and her father agreed to have dinner at his place this weekend. Once her father had given them his blessing he felt that there was nothing really standing in their way. He knew he could get married without her father's permission, but he was old fashioned.

He rang the door bell and waited for someone to answer. When the door opened his fear came to life as Amanda stood at the door. He knew there was a possibility of having to face her again, but he didn't know what to say when he saw her. Luckily she took care of starting the conversation.

"Ryan, why are you here? Is everything alright?" she had a genuine look of concern on her face.

"Is your father home Amanda?"

"He's away on a business trip and won't be back until tomorrow. Has something happened?"

Ryan still refused to tell her anything; wanting to keep the conversation to a minimum, "Can you please tell him to call me when he gets back. I would really like to talk to him". He turned to walk away but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ryan please, if there is something wrong you can tell me".

Ryan turned around to face Amanda, "Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to talk to your father".

"Is this about your pending marriage to Cheryl? If it is I don't think my father will tell you its ok. He loves Cheryl, but he knows what she can be like and will want to stay out of her personal life".

Ryan didn't like where this conversation was going so he turned away again.

Amanda let him go but not without saying something first, "Please Ryan, I am begging you to rethink this whole thing. Has she proven to you that she is truly pregnant?" As she said the last two words Ryan was already at his car with the door open. She didn't know if he had heard everything but she hoped he had.

Ryan started his car up and quickly backed out of the driveway. He was not happy how this went and now his mind was filled with even more doubt than ever.

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The next two days were uneventful and he never did receive a call from Cheryl's father. He had to assume that either Amanda never told her father about his visit or that Amanda was correct in what she said about her father. Either way he was going to be getting married without the blessing and support of Cheryl's family.

He had left work early again and was now on his way to meet Cheryl at the clinic where they would both find out how the baby was doing. He was hoping that they would also do an ultra sound today and tell them if the baby was a boy or girl. It didn't really matter what they had as long as it was healthy, but he still wanted to know. If there was one thing he was excited about it was the idea of being a father.

When he pulled up to the clinic and parked the car he saw Cheryl sitting outside of the building. Something didn't seem quite right as he approached her. When he was finally standing in front of her he saw that she was crying, "Cheryl what's wrong?"

She looked up at him wanting to say something, but it only made her cry harder.

Ryan sat down next to her and put his arm around her, "Cheryl, please tell me what's wrong, why are you crying".

She snuggled into his side and cried. It was a few moments later when she looked into his eye's and said "I've lost the baby Ryan".

Ryan pushed her away just enough so that he could see her face, "You've lost the baby but how?"

"I had a miscarriage this morning after you left for work".

"Why didn't you call me at work and tell me. We may have been able to get to the doctor sooner and saved the baby".

"It was too late. I think the stress of this whole wedding business was just getting to be too much and it caused me to miscarry".

Ryan felt guilty at the words she had just said. He had forced this on her and had to wonder if the stress was the result. "Oh Cheryl I am so sorry, I wished you had called me earlier". He pulled her into his body and held onto her for a few minutes. When he felt her relax in his arms he decided it was time to take her home, "Come on Cheryl, I'm taking you home".

He stood up and took her hand. He clung onto her as they walked toward the car. Once she was seated in the passenger seat he got into the driver side and drove her home.

As soon as they got home he helped her inside and made her lay down while he prepared some dinner. He didn't know what to do at this point, but he wanted to make sure nothing changed.

After they had eaten in silence she went to bed while he sat at the kitchen table. Now that he had a few hours to think about everything he wasn't sure about anything anymore. Earlier he felt like he was the reason Cheryl had lost the baby but now he was beginning to wonder how convenient all of this had become. He remembered what Amanda had said about pretending to be pregnant for a previous boyfriend, but up until now he thought it was just Amanda's way of putting doubt in his mind. Now he had to wonder if Amanda was telling the truth.

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	13. Chapter 13

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Ryan didn't remember when he had fallen asleep, but he knew it was late. He was very tired when his alarm woke him up. He got up and took a shower and ate a small breakfast; he wasn't very hungry this morning.

He still had some time before he had to leave so he decided to clean up the place. Ever since Cheryl had moved in he had not been keeping the place as clean as he liked it. While he was busy dusting the living room he heard Cheryl get up and retreat to the bathroom. He hadn't been sure what he was going to say to her when he saw her today, but he was hoping it would have waited until after work.

As he finished in the living room he made his way to the kitchen. As soon as he started on the dishes in the sink he heard Cheryl come out of the bathroom and he wondered if she would make an appearance before he left. He soon had his answer as he heard his name.

"Good morning Ryan, are you going into work today?"

Ryan put his sponge down on the side of the sink and turned to face Cheryl, "Yes, I planned on going to work today, why?"

"Well after yesterday I was hoping you would take the day off and spend it with me".

Staying home was the last thing he wanted to do today. He looked at Cheryl and pondered his words for a moment. He could see the look on her face was changing as he prolonged his answer so he knew it was time to say something, "I have a lot of work to do today plus I have already missed a lot of work lately. If you need me for anything you can call me ok?"

This appeared to be the wrong answer. "I would think I am more important to you than work. They would understand that you need to be with me today; especially after what happened yesterday".

"I'm sorry Cheryl, but I can't miss work today. Look we can talk about it when I get home later. In the meantime I think you should just take it easy and relax". He turned his back on her and went to finish the dishes in the sink. It was only a few moments longer that he realized she was still standing there. He once again put his sponge down and turned to face her. He was not expecting the look of hatred he saw in her eyes. He felt an uneasiness pour over him as he looked her in the eye. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"You blame me for all of this, don't you? If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have missed a lot of work lately and if it wasn't for me losing the baby you could have stayed home today". Her tone of voice was ice cold.

At this exact moment Ryan wasn't sure who was speaking to him. This person looked like Cheryl but everything else about her couldn't have been more different. "I don't blame you for anything. Look if you really want me to stay with you maybe I can see if I can work the later shift today, but I can't miss work".

"No, if you can't stay home with me than you might as well just leave. I suppose now that we're not going to have baby you won't want me anymore". She stopped briefly as the look on her face grew even uglier; if that was possible. "I know why you want to go to work so badly, you think that since you don't have to marry me you can go and be with her".

"What are you talking about Cheryl, do you really think that I don't want to marry you anymore because of the baby. Yes, I am upset over this, but it doesn't change my feelings for you".

"Well then stay home and prove it to me".

"I'm sorry but I can't. Besides I shouldn't have to prove my love for you. I think that everything I have done for you has made it quite apparent". As he said that he knew this was the wrong thing to say.

Before Ryan knew what was happening Cheryl had picked up a crystal vase sitting on the kitchen counter and threw it at his head. He only had a few seconds to move his head out of the way, but it was not fast enough to avoid the crystal shards as they exploded against the cupboard. One rather large piece found its mark and imbedded itself into Ryan's cheek. It took him a second to realize what just happened. "What are you doing Cheryl; you could have hurt me with that". He moved his hand up to his cheek and realized that he spoke to soon. He felt the blood dripping down and the glass sticking out of his flesh.

"That's nothing compared to what you did to me". Having said that she fled the kitchen and ran into the bedroom; slamming the door.

Ryan slowly walked into the bathroom to take a look at his face. It didn't look too bad, but as he pulled the glass out he saw that it had gone in rather deep. Once it was out he applied some pressure on it with a towel and then walked to the bedroom door, "Come on Cheryl, can we please talk about this. I'm sorry if I did anything to make you angry". He waited for a few minutes and when he heard nothing decided to go back and take care of his face. He thought he may need stitches since the cut was deep, but he would take care of that later. He put a bandage on his face and went to clean the mess up in the kitchen. As soon as he was done he left Cheryl a note and headed to work. This morning was nothing like he thought it would be. Maybe things would be better after work.

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	14. Chapter 14

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When Ryan arrived at work he didn't feel like talking to anyone so he went straight to work in the lab. Luckily there was no one in there and he was able to work alone for about an hour before Calleigh showed up. He looked at her and produced a weak smile but quickly put his head down and got back to work hoping that she would see that he was busy and leave him alone. He wasn't so lucky anymore.

"Good Morning Ryan, you look like you're hard at work, can I help you with anything?"

Without looking up again he said, "No, I don't need any help, but thanks for asking".

Calleigh somehow knew there was something wrong just by hearing the way Ryan spoke. "Are you ok Ryan, you don't sound like yourself".

Ryan knew he would have a hard time getting anything past Calleigh. She always had a way of knowing when something was wrong, "No, there is nothing wrong. I just have a lot to do today".

Calleigh walked closer to where he was working, "then why couldn't you look at me just now when you said that".

Ryan was defeated. He knew he was not going to get rid of her so he looked up into her face. He saw the instant look of concern as she focused on the bandage on his cheek.

"Ryan what happened, are you ok?" She started to reach out to touch his face but stopped as she saw him back away.

"I had a little accident this morning, that's all. I'm fine, but I really have a lot of work to do".

"You're not fine Ryan, that bandage is soaked through, I think you may need stitches". This time she didn't let him back away as she grabbed his face for a closer inspection.

Ryan had not thought of keeping an eye on this wound and hadn't thought anyone would have paid much attention to it. But he was talking to Calleigh and even if the wound had stopped bleeding he knew he would have eventually had to talk to her about it. "I promise that I will go and have this checked out when I'm done here".

"No Ryan, you're going to have someone look at it right now". She really wanted to know how this had happened, but she was willing to wait until he had it looked at. She led him away from his work and toward their medical examiner to see if they agreed the cut needed stitches.

On their way to see the medical examiner they were approached by Horatio and two unknown gentlemen. Once Horatio reached them he stopped to indicate he was there for one of them.

Horatio turned to Ryan and said, "These gentlemen would like a word with you Mr. Wolfe".

Before Ryan could respond Calleigh stepped in to say something, "Horatio, I was just taking Ryan to see Mark. He cut his face and I want Mark to see if he thinks Ryan should have stitches".

Horatio looked at Ryan and saw the bandage but turned back to Calleigh, "I will send him along when these men are done with him, but in the meantime he will have to come with us".

Calleigh had no idea what this was all about, but if she was confused, Ryan was even more so. He didn't say anything but gave Calleigh a fearful look as he started walking toward Horatio and the two men.

-

Horatio led Ryan and the two men into one of the more private conference rooms and pulled out a chair for Ryan. He then took a seat as the other two men did the same.

Ryan didn't know what this all about but he was not afraid to find out, "Can I ask what this is all about?"

Horatio felt compelled to introduce the men before they responded to Ryan, "these men are from Internal Affairs and they are here to talk to you". He pointed to each man as he said their name, "This is special agent Smyth and this is detective Morgan".

Special agent Smyth spoke up first, "Mr. Wolfe, do you know Cheryl Mills?"

"Yes, is something wrong with her?"

"Can you tell me where you were this morning and did you see Ms. Mills?"

"Yes, I saw her at our condo before I left for work; please tell me if something is wrong with her?" Ryan didn't like the fact that they wouldn't answer his question.

"Can you tell me how you got that cut on your face?"

Suddenly Ryan didn't like where this line of questioning was going, "I had an accident this morning after a glass vase shattered".

"How did the vase break?"

Ryan didn't want to answer because it would mean he had to admit what happened this morning, but he also had to remind himself that he did nothing wrong. "It was tossed in my direction and I was unable to reach it before it fell to the ground".

"That is not the story that we heard from Ms. Mill's. She filed a complaint against you. Her complaint states she received injuries after the two of you had an altercation this morning. Normally we would not get involved in this type of case, but since you are a police officer we are bound to investigate it. We advise you to stay away from Ms. Mill's until this has all passed. We have seen this type of problem and these small fights usually resolve themselves. We also advised Ms. Mills to press charges but she has declined to do so at this time. However, if there is any more trouble we will have to step in and assess the situation. We cannot allow one of our officers of the law being involved in this kind of situation.

Horatio had heard enough and spoke up, not caring if the man was done talking, "Well, if there are no charges being pressed against Mr. Wolfe, then this conversation is over. Mr. Wolfe, I would like to speak to you in my office alone". He stood while Ryan left the room and then addressed the other two men, "It seems as if your work is done here for now, so If you'll excuse me".

Horatio made his way to his office and closed the door behind him. "Mr. Wolfe, I don't know if anything they said is true, but I will not tolerate this type of behavior from any of my people. I am hoping this is all a misunderstanding and that there will be no more incidences from you, do I make myself clear".

Ryan wanted to make his case but he knew Horatio well enough to know that no matter what he said, until there was proof in what happened he was on neither side. "I am not sure what happened here today either, but I can assure you it will not happen again".

"See that it doesn't Mr. Wolfe".

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	15. Chapter 15

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Ryan went back to the lab so he could think about what just happened. How had things gotten so ugly between him and Cheryl? This morning was just a little argument; except for the incident with the vase, but this was not enough to cause Cheryl to lie. As he thought about this some more he knew she was capable of lying about things, he had caught her in some of them, although he had never said anything to her. But what would make her want to get him in trouble with the law. None of this made any sense and he really wished he could talk to her, but he was afraid to face her at the moment. He decided he would call her and see if she would agree to meet him somewhere.

As he stood there thinking he heard someone enter the room. When he looked up he saw the concern in Calleigh's eyes.

"Ryan, are you alright? What did those men want with you?"

Ryan didn't want to say anything to Calleigh but he didn't know what other story he might tell her that would convince her nothing was the matter. "They wanted to talk to me about Cheryl".

"Did something happen to her, is she alright?" She looked even more concerned than when she first came into the room.

"No, she's fine, but apparently she is accusing me of something I didn't do. I'm not sure what to do Calleigh".

She could see that whatever he was being accused of was bothering him. "Can I ask what she has accused you of doing?"

He looked at her for a moment before replying. He wanted this to all go away, but most of all he didn't want anyone to know about it, but he could trust Calleigh. "She told the cops that I beat her up this morning".

"What; why would she do something like that?" She had wondered about how Ryan had gotten that cut on his face and now she knew it probably had something to do with Cheryl. But what Cheryl was excusing Ryan of doing is something she could not believe. There had to an explanation for the whole thing so she let Ryan continue.

"We had a little disagreement this morning and Cheryl got mad that I would not stay home with her today. The only one that got hurt this morning was me, when she threw a vase at my head, but I swear to you I didn't touch her".

Calleigh could tell Ryan was telling the truth. "I believe you Ryan. What are you going to do now?" Did she press charges against you?"

"No, they told her she should but she refused. I don't have a clue as to what to do. I thought about calling her and asking her if she will meet me to talk about this. Do you think that is a good idea?"

"I don't know Ryan; you may just want to give her some time before talking to her".

"I suppose I could find somewhere to stay tonight and give her a chance to cool off".

Calleigh smiled at Ryan, "That sounds like a good idea. I have a spare room if you want to stay at my place tonight".

Ryan smiled back, "Thanks Calleigh, I don't want to impose on you".

"Think nothing of it. You would do the same for me. Now let's go and have that cut on your face looked at".

Calleigh waited for Ryan to join her and the two of them went to see their medical examiner.

-

-

It turned out Ryan didn't need stitches but he did have a couple of butterfly bandages on to keep the cut together and allow it to heal without too much scarring. However, this wasn't enough to put him in a better mood. He had a hard time concentrating on the rest of his work that day and was glad when it finally came to an end.

Ryan had agreed to crash in Calleigh's spare room for the night and drove his car to her place after work. He didn't know if he should call Cheryl and tell her where he was, but in the end he decided against it. He didn't have to work tomorrow and thought he could use this day to try and speak with her.

He had only been to Calleigh's place once before but luckily remembered where she lived. As he pulled up to her place he saw that she had already arrived. After he got out of his car and walked toward the front door he was grateful to have Calleigh as a friend. He may have been sleeping in his car or at a motel tonight if she had not offered to let him stay with her.

Before he got all the way up the steps, he was greeted by Calleigh, "Hi Ryan, I see you remembered where I lived. Come on in". She led him through her front door before saying "I figured you were not up to going out tonight, so I thought I would make us some dinner".

"Thanks Calleigh, I don't know what I would do without you". He wasn't prepared to stay away from his place so he had brought nothing with him. He followed Calleigh as she showed him where he was staying and when she suggested he get some rest before dinner he didn't object. He took his shoes off and lay down on the bed. It wasn't long before he was startled awake by the sound of his phone. He sat up and had to process where he was for a second before reaching for his phone. He didn't have to look at his phone to know that it was Cheryl who was calling.

He reached for his phone and answered the call; "Hi Cheryl" was all that he could manage to say.

Cheryl barely allowed Ryan to complete his greeting as she burst out, "Where are you? I had dinner waiting on the table and you never showed up".

Ryan was immediately confused by her statement, "I didn't think it was a good idea to come home tonight so I am staying at a friend's place".

There was an unrecognizable tone in her voice as she said "Why would you think that. Who are you with Ryan?"

"I'm just staying with a friend tonight. After what you accused me of doing I thought it was best not to come home tonight. I wanted to give you some time".

"I didn't accuse you of doing anything; you know very well what you did. But that's all in the past now so you can come home and be with me tonight".

"No Cheryl, I think it's best that we talk about this tomorrow after we have both had a good night's rest".

There was a hint of ice in her voice as she said, "I don't need a good night's rest to know why you don't want to come home". That being said she hung up the phone.

Ryan didn't like the tone in Cheryl's voice and was glad she choice to end the call. He really wished she hadn't called because he wasn't sure what to do now. He had thought he could talk to her tomorrow, but if she really thinks what she did was nothing then he didn't see how another day would change her perception of things.

Sitting there thinking was getting him nowhere so he was grateful when Calleigh knocked on the door to tell him dinner was ready.

-

Ryan was silent during dinner and Calleigh could only guess why. She decided it was best to get his mind off of Cheryl and on to something else. "Since I made dinner I thought you could clean up. And then when you're done I thought we could sit and watch some TV; my favorite movie is on tonight".

Ryan gave her a genuine smile and said, "What would I do without friends like you. I really appreciate what you did for me tonight". He got up from the table and reached his arm out to her, "So I think that you should go and relax and let me take care of everything here".

Calleigh took Ryan's hand and stood up. She gave him a long hug of thanks before heading out to the living room for some relaxation.

As Ryan started clearing off the table, he was able to push his troubles aside for the time being, but unbeknownst to him, his troubles were closer than he knew.

Outside of the kitchen window Cheryl stood watching Ryan as a wicked smile crossed her face. She stood there a little longer before heading toward the front door.

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	16. Chapter 16

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Calleigh was sitting on the couch surfing through the channels on the TV when she heard something lightly tapping on her window. At first she thought it was the wind pushing a tree branch into it, but when it moved to her front door she knew it must be something else. She got up and went to the window. Looking outside she didn't see anything and noticed that there was actually no wind so what had caused the tapping on her door. She was just about to ignore it as a fluke when she heard some more tapping on the door again.

She went to the door and opened it cautiously. As she looked outside she didn't see anything and was just about to close it when she heard the same tapping noise again. She walked out onto her porch and looked around to see if she could figure out where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the left so she walked down the steps to get a closer look. As she reached the bottom step and turned to the left she felt a sudden heavy weight fall on her head and then felt nothing at all as she fell to the ground.

-

Ryan was just finishing up with the dishes in the sink when he heard someone behind him. Without turning around he said, "Calleigh, I am almost done so you can go back and relax".

When he didn't hear a response he figured she went back into the living room, but when he heard footsteps again he knew she hadn't. He started to turn around to once again tell her to go and relax but "Calleigh" was all he got out before he saw that it was not Calleigh he was talking to.

"Cheryl, how did you get in here?" He stopped as a horrible thought suddenly popped in his head. With a sense of urgency he said, "Where's Calleigh?"

Cheryl had the look of a wild animal in her eyes. She steps closer to Ryan, "I knew you were with her. How could you do this to me? I trusted you and you go and betray me to be with another woman".

Ryan dried his hands off on his pants as he tried to look beyond Cheryl to see if he could get any glimpse of Calleigh. "Where is Calleigh?"

"You shouldn't be worried about her; you should be thinking of you and me, or don't you love me anymore".

"I'm not going to talk to you about that right now. I need to go and find Calleigh". He started making his way out of the room but found his way blocked by Cheryl, "Get out of my way".

"You insensitive bastard, how could you choose her over me".

"I don't have time for this Cheryl; get out of my way". Ryan started to place his hands on her arms in an attempt to move her but felt a strength he had only felt once before push him back.

Cheryl was like a possessed woman at this point and started pushing Ryan backward, "You're not going anywhere until you talk to me about this".

"No Cheryl, I am not talking to you until I know Calleigh is ok". He tried to push back but was once again surprised by the strength Cheryl possessed.

"You will listen to me", with one last push she sent Ryan falling to the floor where his head made contact with the pointed end of the door handle on one of the cupboards.

Cheryl stood there watching as Ryan fell backward and then stared at him while he landed on the ground. Once he was down she saw that he was not moving. She cautiously went over to him and shoved his body with her foot to see if he responded. When he didn't move she became more agitated, "So, you're refusing to talk to me, well that will not do at all". She leaned down and pulled him into a sitting position; making sure his back was resting up against the cupboard door for support. She slapped him once and when he didn't open his eyes she slapped him again, "Wake up and talk to me Ryan".

After shouting at him a few more times to wake up she shoved him back to the floor. She then picked up a few plates sitting in the sink and threw them on the ground in frustration. She knew it was time to go, but before leaving she grabbed one more plate and threw it directly on Ryan. It shattered into several pieces, but it was not enough to wake him up.

She made her way back to the front door but when she heard sirens coming toward the house she decided to leave through the back door.

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	17. Chapter 17

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Luckily one of the neighbors had spotted Calleigh lying on the ground and called the police. At first she was afraid to go over and make sure Calleigh was ok because she didn't know if the person who had done this was still around. But a quick scan of the immediate surroundings and the sounds of sirens off in the distance gave them the courage to try.

As she made her way to Calleigh, she heard the sound of a woman shouting inside followed by the sound of shattering glass against a hard surface. This caused her to fall back into the shadows because it proved to her that whoever did this was still inside. She could see that Calleigh was breathing so it caused her to stay hidden until the police arrived.

The first police car pulled up to the residence shortly after the call was placed and the neighbor who had called them came out of the shadows to greet them, "Please, someone assaulted my neighbor and I think who ever did it is still inside".

The officer who got out of the car moved toward her quickly, "Get behind the car miss, we'll take care of this".

The woman complied and watched as the officer and his partner took their guns out and approached the house cautiously.

The officer who had spoken to the neighbor spotted Calleigh and made his way over to her quickly. He motioned his partner over to where he was and then proceeded to check Calleigh's neck. "She's breathing so I think it's safe to leave her here until someone else arrives. The neighbor said they thought the assailant was inside. I'm going to go in the front; you make your way toward the back in case they try to flee that way". The sounds of additional sirens could be heard as the officers made their way into the house.

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Ryan was unaware of any of the commotion occurring outside when he opened his eyes. The back of his head felt numb and there was blood on his hand after he inspected the area. He used the counter to pull himself up, but was very unstable when he tried to walk. He used the rest of the counter to make his way out of the kitchen. His only thoughts were on finding Calleigh.

As he unsteadily made his way out to the living room he was suddenly caught off guard as he heard someone yelling at him.

The police officer who had come in through the front had seen Ryan come out of the kitchen and not knowing who he was had to assume he was the person they were looking for. "Get down on the ground, now".

As Ryan turned his head toward the voice he suddenly felt dizzy and was momentarily confused by what he was seeing. He just stood there and looked as he heard the officer shout at him again. He was just about to identify who he was when he felt himself being thrown to the ground. He tried to get up but got nowhere as a sharp pain erupted in the middle of his back. He struggled a little bit but the pain intensified and he realized it was someone's knee keeping him down.

The officer who was on top of Ryan shouted, "Don't move". He then pulled Ryan's hands behind his back and put on a pair of handcuffs".

Everything happened so fast that no one realized there were more officers outside. As Ryan was hauled up to his feet and pushed toward the front door another officer came in. To Ryan's luck he recognized him. "Mark, tell them who I am and that they have the wrong guy".

The officer Ryan called Mark assessed the situation quickly and spoke up, "This is CSI Ryan Wolfe you have in custody, is there a reason for this?"

The officer who had pushed Ryan down replied, "We responded to a call of a possible assault and when we came in to see if the perpetrator was still on the premise we found him. He never identified himself so we had to assume he was the guy we were looking for".

Mark walked over to Ryan, "Are you ok, what happened here?" Without waiting for a response he quickly looked at the officer behind Ryan and said "Take the cuffs off of him".

Ryan was still in somewhat of a daze as the cuff's were removed, but he still remembered he didn't know anything about Calleigh, "Mark, do you know where Calleigh is?"

Mark put his hand on Ryan's shoulder to keep him from going anywhere, "Don't worry Ryan, she's outside and someone is taking care of her. From the looks of you we need to take a look at you as well". He had to use some force to get Ryan to sit down on the couch. He had noticed Ryan's eyes and had to wonder if he had been hit on the head. "Hey, looks like someone got you pretty good". He could see Ryan wince as he felt the back of his friend head.

Ryan wanted to get outside and make sure Calleigh was ok, but as he tried to stand up he felt another wave of dizziness wash over him. He was grateful there was a couch to break his fall. He looked up at Mark and was about to say something when his world suddenly went black.

-

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Horatio arrived at the hospital and went straight to the officer in charge, "Mark, what happened?"

Mark finished his conversation with another officer and turned to address Horatio, "Hey Horatio, it appears that someone assaulted two of your people tonight. We were called out to Calleigh's place and when we got there we found Calleigh unconscious and Ryan inside where he also eventually fell unconscious".

Horatio tried to hide the worry on his face, "Where are they now?"

"Both are with the doctor's right now. Calleigh came too shortly before you got here, but Ryan is still out. I'll take you to see Calleigh".

Mark led Horatio into one of the examination rooms where they found Calleigh laying on the bed surrounded by a few nurses, one doctor and one officer standing in the corner.

Horatio immediately went over to Calleigh's side, "What happened, are you alright?"

Calleigh could see Horatio was worried so she did her best to show him she was ok, "Horatio, I don't know exactly what happened, but I just have a little bump on my head, I'll be fine".

The doctor in the room heard what Calleigh said and had something to say, "It wasn't just a little bump Ms. Duquesne, you have a pretty nasty concussion".

Calleigh shrugged off the doctor's comment, "How's Ryan, someone said he was brought in as well but they haven't told me anything?"

Horatio could see the worry in her eyes, but he had to be honest with her, "Ryan is here, but I don't know anything about his condition yet. I came to check on your first since I heard you were awake".

Calleigh started to sit but had to lie back down as her head started to spin, "I guess I better not try that again. Can you please let me know how he is?"

"You'll be the first to know Calleigh". He patted her leg as he made his way out of the room in search of Ryan's room.

-

As Horatio entered one of the other examination rooms he found Ryan lying on his side, but from all appearances he was not awake.

The doctor with him was examining his head when he looked up at his arrival. "Can I help you?"

"Mr. Wolfe is one of my CSI and I am here to see how he is doing". He walked closer and could definitely see that Ryan was still out of it.

The doctor had one of the nurses take over and walked closer to Horatio, "Mr. Wolfe has suffered a blow to the head which has caused a skull fracture and a pretty nasty concussion. We took a few scans of his skull and are now going to patch him up. He'll be with us for a couple of days before he can go home".

Horatio looked at Ryan with concern as he asked "Has he regained consciousness yet?"

"Yes, he did wake up, but he started to get agitated so we gave him something to sedate him. Normally we would not want him asleep with a head injury, but under the circumstances we had to prevent him from doing further harm".

"I understand. I need to go and check on my other CSI, but please keep me updated if his condition changes".

Horatio took one more look at Ryan and then went to tell Calleigh what he knew.

-

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After spending the night at the hospital under observation, Calleigh was being released today. She was happy to be getting out of the hospital but wished that Ryan was joining her. She was told that he most likely would be leaving tomorrow. She promised to check on him before she left and that she would be here when he got out. After Horatio was able to hold a conversation with Ryan they learned that Cheryl had been behind the whole thing. She didn't know well Ryan was handling this since he really wasn't saying much. When she had gone and seen him on a few occasions he was very quiet and looked like he just wanted to rest.

Horatio had come to pick her up and the both of them went into Ryan's room, "Hey Ryan, looks like their letting me out of this place. I bet if you play nice they'll let you out as well".

Ryan looked at Calleigh and gave her a small smile, "I'll do my best Calleigh; I want nothing more than to get away from this place as quickly as possible".

Calleigh and Horatio sat with Ryan for a little longer and talked about everything but the incident. Since Ryan didn't bring up the topic of Cheryl they felt it was best to not mention it. They knew this had to be hard on him.

They said their goodbyes and Horatio took Calleigh home to rest. He said he would sit with her for a while but she insisted she was fine and that he should go back to work. She knew she was safe since they had an unmarked police car with an on duty officer outside watching the place. They had no idea where Cheryl was and were not sure what she was capable of doing so it was better to be cautious.

After saying goodbye to Horatio she sat down on her couch and was soon fast asleep, but her rest was plagued with nightmares of Cheryl.

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	18. Chapter 18

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Calleigh had just arrived in time to catch the doctor instructing Ryan to take it easy for the next few days. She waited patiently and when he was done she walked over to Ryan, "Hey Ryan, you ready to get out of here?"

"I am so ready to get out of here. I think if I had to eat one more hospital meal I was going to go crazy".

Calleigh was glad to see Ryan's sense of humor was still there. She had talked to him on the phone earlier in the day and was a little distressed that he had not mentioned Cheryl yet. She didn't know if he was in denial or if this was his normal way of dealing with it. "So, I thought after I take you home that I would make us some lunch and maybe we could talk. I also thought about staying the night with you just to make sure you're ok".

Ryan suddenly looked up at the mention of her staying with him, "I don't need you to stay the night; I'll be fine". He continued to gather his things and then without saying another word left the room.

Calleigh could tell she said the wrong thing, but she wasn't sure what it was that would have caused Ryan to suddenly shut down. Ryan's mood didn't improve on the drive over to his place either. If anything he became more agitated the closer he got to his place. It was so noticeable that she pulled off into one of the parking lots and turned off the car. She could tell Ryan was confused by her actions but she had to talk to him before he got home, "Ryan, I want you to tell me what you're feeling about all of this. You must have some reservations about Cheryl, but keeping them to yourself will only make things worse".

Ryan rested his head on the headrest behind him and closed his eyes. He did have some anxiety over going home and having to deal with Cheryl at some point, but he had been hoping that by not talking about it everything would just go away. But he was just fooling himself and Calleigh had seen right through it all. He opened his eyes and moved his head so he could face Calleigh, "I don't know Calleigh, I tried not to think about any of this in the hospital, but knowing that I am going home and all of her things will be there is making this situation all too real. I feel like such a fool for ever having gotten involved with Cheryl. The more time I spent thinking about her I found myself realizing that there were signs that I should not have ignored. Had I done something about it none of this would have happened. I really never meant anything to happen to you and I just thank the lord that you're still here for me to tell you that I'm sorry". He moved his eyes away from her not being able to face her.

Calleigh had been listening, not wanting to interrupt him, but now that he was done she really didn't know what to say to him that would make him feel better. Instead she took his hand and gave it a big squeeze. She held onto his hand long enough to feel him relax. Then without another word took her hand back and started the car again. The rest of the drive was silent.

She pulled up to his condo and helped him carry his stuff into the house. She had been told by Horatio that someone had gone to Ryan's while trying to locate Cheryl and had confirmed that the place looked safe. Calleigh had thought to suggest they remove some of Cheryl's stuff, but decided against it. She knew that Ryan would probably want to take care of that.

Once inside she was happy to see that Horatio was correct and that everything looked in place. She set his bag down and then broke the silence that was lingering between them, "Well, I want you to curl up on the recliner and watch some TV and relax while I make us some lunch ".

Ryan produced a weak smile and did as he was told. He removed his shoes and sat down on the recliner. As he sat there he found himself being buried under a nice fluffy blanket. This time he gave Calleigh a bigger smile before he rested his head and closed his eyes. He was still in no mood to talk.

Calleigh was happy that he didn't put up a fight about relaxing while she made lunch. She knew he needed to take it easy. She went into the kitchen and pulled out a few things from the refrigerator. She was happy to see that Natalia had done what she had asked, and that was to remove all of the existing food and replace it with new food. She was just being cautious since she didn't know what Cheryl was capable of doing and poisoning ones food was something so simple for one sick and twisted ex-girlfriend to do.

As the food was cooking, she looked around the corner to check on Ryan. She saw that he was sleeping; or at least his eyes were closed. She was glad he was resting and went back into the kitchen so she would not disturb him.

When lunch was done she went out to the living room and saw that Ryan was sitting up. He had a pen and paper in his hands and she had to wonder what he was doing. "Hey Ryan, lunch is ready. Do you want me to bring it out here for you to eat or do you want to eat it in the kitchen?"

Ryan finished writing something and looked at Calleigh, "We can eat in the kitchen, just let me finish with this and I'll be right in".

"Can I ask what you're working on?"

"I am just making a to-do list for this week. I need to move Cheryl's stuff out of here, change the locks and do a few other things so I thought I better write them down so I don't forget anything".

Calleigh smiled at the idea of him finally starting to talk about Cheryl, "That sounds like a good idea. I can help you with anything you want, but you should probably get the locks changed today, just be safe".

"Yeah, you're probably right".

Ryan got up from the chair and followed Calleigh into the kitchen where he found a nice meal of hamburgers and a salad waiting for him.

-

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After lunch Calleigh made a few phone calls and within the next hour a locksmith showed up to change the locks on all the doors. He also suggested that they change the security system pass code just in case.

Ryan took care of the pass code and then went into the bedroom. His intent was to remove all of Cheryl's stuff but when he looked around he saw that there was so much stuff that belonged to her that he didn't know where to start. He sat down on the bed to think, but must have been in a daze as he finally heard Calleigh talking. He looked up at her and saw that she had a concerned look on her face.

Calleigh had come in to the bedroom to see Ryan sitting on the bed, but after repeated attempts to get his attention she was ready to go over and touch his shoulder. Luckily he finally registered her presence before she got close enough. "Ryan, are you sure you up to this right now?"

"I need to get this done so it doesn't really matter if I am up for this. I just want to get all of her stuff out of here so I don't have to think about her anymore". Ryan paused, not sure if he wanted to bring up another topic, but decided he needed to, "So, have they gotten any closer to finding her?"

Calleigh shook her head as she said, "No, they tried all the places her family and friends suggested, but no luck. They do have a car outside of her father's house in case she shows up and before you say anything; there is a car outside of your condo keeping an eye on you. They feel that if she doesn't show up in a couple of days they'll stop the round the clock surveillance on the two places".

Ryan didn't want to say anything, but he was secretly grateful for the extra watch being placed on his place. He didn't think Cheryl would have enough guts to show up here, but then again he knew there was something severely wrong with the woman after she acted like nothing was wrong just before she assaulted him in Calleigh's kitchen.

Ryan had agreed to let Calleigh help him bag up Cheryl's stuff, so by the time she left for the evening, there was nothing of Cheryl's left in the room. It was now housed by the front door waiting for someone to come and get it. He had decided to call Amanda and have her come and get it. While he was in the hospital he had come to the conclusion that Amanda had not done anything to his place and that it must have been Cheryl that had tried to set her own sister up. He still didn't entirely trust Amanda, but she had at least tried to warn him about Cheryl. His plan was to call her up tomorrow and arrange for her to come and get the stuff. It also gave him time to get the rest of the stuff bagged up. He wanted everything of hers out of his life. If he learned anything about this last relationship it was that he needed to stay away from the dating scene for awhile. He was always jumping into relationships too quickly and none of them ever amounted to anything good.

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	19. Chapter 19

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Ryan was given a few days off after the incident so he spent it packing up all of Cheryl's stuff. He had arranged for Amanda to come over today and take it all away. She had promised to bring some friends along to help with the big stuff so he glad he would not be alone with her.

He looked at the clock and decided to take a break since she was supposed to be coming any minute. As he sat back in the recliner sipping some ice tea he tried not to think about the past week, but as usual it was hard to do. Every time he tried to relax his thoughts were of one particular person, and it was starting to drive him nuts. He just hoped that getting rid of her stuff would help him forget. Another thing that would help was knowing her whereabouts. They still didn't have any leads one her location and they were starting to think she had skipped town. He didn't agree with their assessment however. There was something inside of him that said he would be seeing her again and it scared the hell out of him.

It was the sound of the doorbell that jostled him out of his thoughts. He got up and looked out the window to see that a truck was now sitting outside. He went to the door and could see Amanda through the peep hole. His hand paused on the doorknob before he opened it. He was expecting to see Amanda and her friends, but once the door was open all he saw was her. "Hey Amanda, you're right on time. Are your friends on their way?"

Amanda looked nervous as she announce "I'm really sorry but I couldn't get anyone to help me today, but I promise to get all of her stuff moved today. I'm just going to need a little more help from you than originally planned".

The news was not what he needed at the moment, but he wanted to get Cheryl's stuff out so he didn't really have much of a choice, "I can help you, I'm just glad you could make it today". He moved away from the door to let her in. "Well I've got everything in one place so it should make things go quickly".

Amanda looked around and could tell that Ryan had worked hard to get everything ready. "That will make things easier for sure". She wanted to say more, but decided against it. The tension that already filled the air was more than she could handle. She went straight to work and started moving some boxes out to the truck she had borrowed. Ryan was right behind her, but both managed to stay out of each other's ways until it was time to move some of the heavier stuff.

Without speaking it seemed to be understood by both as to what needed to be done. Both walked over to the 3 bigger items that were left and started grabbing an end, but the teamwork was short lived when Ryan suddenly put his end of the table down, "I think we should take a break before we move these. Do you want some ice tea?"

She was grateful for the break, "Sure, that sounds good. Maybe we can drink it out on the porch".

As Amanda sat on the third step leaning back Ryan came out carrying two glasses. Without saying anything he handed her one of the glasses and sat down next to her.

"Oh, this tastes good. I had forgotten how much I hate moving boxes".

Ryan found himself smiling at Amanda's response. "I know what you mean. I never enjoyed it either". He took a sip of tea before asking something that he had wanted to since she had gotten there, "So how have you been doing through all of this?"

She looked at Ryan and said, "I should be the one asking you that question. Don't worry about me, how are you doing?"

"I could be doing better, but time is all I need. I'm really sorry that I didn't listen to you earlier".

"You shouldn't be sorry for anything. Cheryl is very manipulative and usually gets her way". Amanda was glad things were out in the open.

After they finished their ice tea they finished moving the rest of the stuff and Amanda gave Ryan a big hug and told him to be careful before leaving.

As Ryan watched the truck drive off he felt a part of Cheryl melt away, but he knew it was not going to be as easy to forget the rest of her. There was a time when he really thought he had loved her and it really hurt knowing that it was all a lie. As he watched Amanda drive off he kind of wished that it had been Amanda who he had been with. He did have feelings for her that he chose to never admit to himself, but it was too late for such thoughts now. He wanted Cheryl and everything that reminded him of her out of his life and that included Amanda.

As if being able to read his mind, Cheryl sat watching him from a distance and could think of nothing but hatred toward her sister. How dare her sister come over and see her man and spend time with him. And to top things off she removed all of her stuff from their home so now it felt like she had nowhere to go. Perhaps she and Ryan could find a new place to live; a place where they could be happy and away from any distractions. She decided she would spend the rest of the day figuring out how to persuade Ryan that they needed to move away from all of this.

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	20. Chapter 20

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Ryan was ready to go back to work. Just having had the last week off, he was actually looking forward to a change of scenery and work was just the place to give him that. He was told by the doctor to take it easy, but since he was finally feeling like his old self he knew those orders would be hard to follow. As he got ready for work he looked around his place and liked what he saw. From all appearances, it was as if Cheryl had never lived here, but it had taken a lot of work to get it that way. After Amanda had taken her sisters stuff away he kept finding little things that were Cheryl's, but he was convinced he had found everything by now. He was also glad the 'round the clock' watch on his place was being reduced to a few drive by's during the day. They saw no sense in keeping it up since he was not going to be there, but the real reason was that fact that Cheryl had not tried to contact him or her family. They figured she must have skipped town.

His drive to work was refreshing. Since getting home from the hospital he had not gone anywhere and had started to feel like a caged bird. As he pulled up to the parking lot he saw a familiar figure getting out of her car. He parked right next to her and was happy she waited for him.

Calleigh was all smiles when she saw Ryan pull up. When she saw him get of his car he seemed happier than he had last time she saw him and she was glad to see the change. The genuine smile plastered on his face was all the proof she needed to know that he was not just acting; he was truly on his way to recovering from the ordeal he had gone through.

"Good Morning Ryan, I must say you are looking good today. I didn't think I would ever see that smile of yours ever again". She waited for him to get closer and then grabbed him in a big hug. She was glad when he hugged her back.

Ryan didn't want the hug to end. In the last few weeks he had come to see Calleigh in a whole new light and knew that he would never had made it this far had it not been for her. But he knew it would be hard to work if he were attached to her all day so he let go. "Good Morning Calleigh, it feels so good to be back here". As soon as he said that he chuckled to himself.

"What are you laughing at?"

The chuckle settled into another smile as he said, "I never thought I would be this happy to be coming to work. It's kind of ironic ya know. I remember always being glad when the day was over, but I hope this day never ends". He didn't really mean the last part, but he was in such a good mood he didn't think there was anything that could spoil it.

He walked into the building with Calleigh but didn't get very far. He was besieged by several of his coworkers wanting to know how he was doing and telling him they were glad he was back.

After spending his first 30 minutes talking to his friends, he finally made his way to the lab where he found Horatio hard at work. "Hi H, you said you wanted to see me before I started today?"

Horatio gave him a small smile as he took his lab coat off. "Let's go into my office, we can talk in there".

Ryan followed Horatio into his office and sat down on the offered chair. Horatio sat down at his desk and looked at Ryan, "How are you doing Mr. Wolfe, do you feel like you're really ready to come back to work?"

"I am so ready, just point me to the next crime scene and I will show how ready I am".

Horatio couldn't help but smile again, "slow down Mr. Wolfe, I can see that you are eager to get back to work, but I do want you to take it easy today. I want you to work with Calleigh and at anytime you feel like you want to rest just let her know".

Ryan stood up to address Horatio, "don't worry, I promise to take it easy". He didn't wait for anything more to be said and made a quick exit to find Calleigh.

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Ryan wasn't at work more than an hour when Calleigh told him they were being called out to a crime scene. He helped her fill the hummer with a few things and they set off to their destination.

They found Natalia and Frank waiting for them when they pulled up. There was also a fire engine that had just finished putting out the fire that had managed to burn about half of the building down. From the sign on the roof they were standing in front of a storage unit. Calleigh got out of the car followed by Ryan. "Hi Frank, so what do we have?"

Frank's gaze went to Ryan first as he saw the two of the approaching, "Hey Ryan, glad to have you back". He then turned his head to answer Calleigh's question, "It looks like we have a double homicide inside. There are two bodies inside and both are pretty burned. From the looks of it they were here to either drop off some things or pick something up. Were trying to get a hold of the building manager to see who rented the space".

As Ryan entered the building the smell of burnt flesh was unmistakable. He surveyed the area and knew that his first case back was going to be a messy one. He never really liked the cases that involved fire as the possible cause of death.

"Ryan, why don't we start with the bodies? The ME is done with his evaluation".

"Sounds good"! He carried his case filled with his investigational tools over to the first body. Frank wasn't kidding when he said the bodies were badly burnt. They were beyond recognition and didn't even resemble human beings anymore. He had to wonder if someone had used an accelerant on them to make sure it would be hard to identify them. He looked around to see if he could find a source, but something caught his eye. He walked over to one of the charred items and reached down to pull out a necklace that had somehow managed to survive the heat. It was full of soot but it was easy to wipe off. When he examined it closer his face suddenly went white. He stood there looking at the item in his hand for a few moments before he found the ability to move again. He looked up and saw that Calleigh was walking toward him".

"Hey Ryan, did you find something there?" As she approached she could tell something was wrong, "What is it Ryan, you don't look so good".

Ryan looked at Calleigh, but didn't register what she had said. With a sense of urgency he said, "Have they found out who rented this storage unit yet?"

"No they haven't, what's wrong Ryan?" She could see he was holding on to something in his hand and wanted to see what it was, "What did you find Ryan?"

Ryan managed to hand over the necklace, "I found this in the rubble close to the one body".

Calleigh looked at it and saw that it was a necklace, "I'm surprised it survived the fire. Do you recognize this?"

"It was one of the items that Amanda removed from my condo the other day. I had given this to Cheryl when she first moved in with me".

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	21. Chapter 21

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After finding the necklace Ryan was unable to concentrate on his work so Calleigh suggested he help find out who had rented the space. It was a welcome distraction for awhile, but the moment he heard the name of the person who had signed the rental contract it brought everything back. The name on the paper was one of his worse fears. Amanda had rented the space so it was an obvious assumption that one of people he saw in the building was once Amanda.

There was nothing more he could do on the case so Calleigh sent him home. She was worried about him so she asked one of the officers's to drive him home and suggested that they stay on guard for a little while until she could talk to Horatio. Even though she had a crime to investigate her primary concern at the moment was keeping Ryan safe. If Cheryl was capable of doing this to her own sister that there was no telling what she was capable of doing to Ryan. It also indicated that she had not skipped town as initially thought.

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Ryan was being driven home by one of the officer's who was at the scene, but he kept on insisting that he was able to drive himself home. Once home he slowly got out of the car and walked to the door. He stood there for a moment not wanting to go in, but the weariness he was feeling finally got the best of him and he decided to go in and lay down.

As he sat in his recliner he became angry with himself for every having gotten involved with Cheryl. He was also feeling responsible for Amanda. He didn't know for sure if one of the bodies belonged to her, but deep down he knew she was dead.

While he was on the recliner he had managed to fall asleep and had been so for the last couple of hours when he woke to the smell of smoke. He opened his eyes to a haze of smoke that seemed to be coming from the bedroom. He quickly got up to investigate but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw an image of Amanda standing in the corner of his bedroom surrounded by flames. She looked up to see him and started screaming for him to save her, but it was not good. The flames were just too high and too hot for him to get close. He struggled to think of something to do and decided to run into the bathroom to wet down a blanket. Maybe he could use this to stamp out the flames just long enough for her to escape.

As Ryan turned on the bathroom light and went to the sink he looked in the mirror and saw Cheryl's face looking back at him. He turned around to say something but as soon as he did she was gone. He didn't think she could have moved that fast but he was soon distracted by the agonizing screams of Amanda in the other room. He ran toward the bedroom but found that the flames had moved out of the bedroom and were coming straight for him. He tried to get away from them but he realized he was being backed into a corner with no way out. He didn't think it was possible, but the flames appeared to be moving rather quickly and it was only a matter of seconds when he started gagging on the smoke. His eyes were also starting to sting from the smoke making it difficult to see. He realized that this was truly the end for him and there was no way out. He slumped against the wall and fell to the floor. The darkness came quickly putting him out of his misery.

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Author's Note: Sorry this was so short, but more to come real soon.


	22. Chapter 22

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After bringing all the evidence from the warehouse to the lab, Calleigh went to work on identifying the bodies of the two people they found. She had been told that the space had indeed been rented by Amanda so the likelihood of one of the bodies belonging to her was almost inevitable, but the identity of the other body was anybody's guess. She talked to their medical examiner and he said the second victim was definitely a man, but his identify would require further investigation.

Samples from both bodies were collected and were now being processed by Natalia. Hopefully they would confirm who their victims were. Calleigh knew that they had samples from Amanda in their system because of her past arrests, determining the other person would not be as easy if they did not have a match.

As Calleigh was preparing to go and check on Ryan, Natalia came into the room, "Hey Calleigh, I ran the samples you gave me through the computer and we had a definite match on one of them. One of the bodies belonged to Amanda Mills".

Calleigh had known what the results were going to be even before Natalia told her so instead of dwelling on the fact she went for the facts on the other body, "did you find anything about the other person?"

"Nothing came up, but they are checking with her friends and her father to see if they knew who she may have been with. Do you suppose Ryan would know?"

Calleigh shook her head as she said, "I don't know, he knew Amanda but I don't know how well. I'm going to go over to see him after work so I can ask him".

"Tell him I said hi".

"I will, keep me posted on what you find out". Calleigh finished what she was doing as Natalia left the room. Once she had put the evidence she was working on away she went to her car and headed to Ryan's place.

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The last waking memory Ryan had was the feeling of intense heat and losing his will to keep on fighting, so when he woke he couldn't help but let out a loud scream. His agony was short lived when he realized that there were no flames in front of him. He could however tell that he was no longer in his condo, but as to where he was he had no clue; the room was too dark. He also discovered that he was unable to move his body. Whatever he was laying on was soft and warm, but that was the only comfort he felt. The rest of his body was being held down by something tight around his hands and leg.

He tried to loosen whatever was holding him but it only seemed to make it tighter. He eventually gave up and knew there was nothing else he could do but wait. With the extra time on his hands he started to think back to his last vivid memory. He could have sworn it was real, that Amanda was in his condo burning in the flames and that Cheryl was there just watching. It must have been all a dream, but it felt so real. This made him realize that Cheryl was most likely behind whatever new predicament he was now in.

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Calleigh had been standing outside of Ryan's front door for the last minute waiting for him to answer the door. She thought that he must be asleep since all the lights were out in the place and the officer watching the home said he had not left, but she didn't want to go back home until she talked to him. She dug around in her purse and eventually found the extra set of keys Ryan had given her for emergencies. She knew even if he was asleep he wouldn't mind if she let herself in.

Once inside she turned on the lights and looked around. She didn't see any signs of Ryan so she made her way to his room thinking he would be sound asleep in his bed. She quietly made her way to his bedroom but as she looked in there was no sign of Ryan and the bed looked untouched. She made her way through the rest of the condo and found that all the rooms were empty. She went and checked on his car but remembered that it was still at the station because someone had driven him home. This left only one other thought in her mind; he must have gone off for a walk. She dialed his cell number and waited for him to pick up. When it went to his voice mail she was beyond frustrated. She didn't think he would have gone out with friends, especially since the officer said he had not left his place.

Calleigh's only other thought was that something must have happened to Ryan. They had just found his ex girlfriend's sister possibly murdered so wasn't hard for her to consider the worst case scenario possible. She immediately placed a call to Horatio so that he could help her figure out what to do next.

While she waited for Horatio to arrive she took a closer inspection of the condo. She was surprised her trained eyes had not seen this before, but it appeared that something large had passed between the table and the bookcase located by the recliner. She knew that Ryan was too neat to let stuff just lay around on the floor so this was where she focused her attention. After her examination she realized that the object that may have caused the disruption of the furniture was probably the same size of a body being dragged between them. The more she looked at things the more concerned she became.

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He was unsure of how long he lay there before he heard sounds coming from another room. Soon the sounds were replaced by a female voice singing something that he could not quite comprehend, but there was one thing that was unmistakable about the voice; in belonged to Cheryl. All he could do was wait for her to come into the room, and hopefully explain things to him. He was also hoping he could talk her into letting him go.

It was another few minutes before a door finally opened. Ryan looked toward the light emanating from around the door frame and he could tell she was standing in the doorway. He watched as she came closer to where he was; reaching down for something when she stopped. Within seconds the room was filled with a very low light that was just enough for him to make out where he was. He could tell he was indeed lying on a bed and that the bed was in a room that was sparsely decorated.

Cheryl was smiling with delight as she saw Ryan awake, "Welcome home honey, I have been waiting for you to wake up. I've prepared something for you to eat; I hope you're hungry?"

Ryan had to keep telling himself to remain calm and to not become angry with her. He knew it would only make matters worse. He had been watching her the whole time she was in the room, but he knew she would not be patient for long as she waited for him to reply. He wasn't sure what the proper response would be to make her satisfied, but he had to try, "Why are you doing this Cheryl?"

She moved closer to Ryan until she was directly in front of his face, "What do you mean sweetie, I always make your food. I wouldn't be much of a wife if I didn't ensure my man was properly fed, now would I". As if not wanting a response from Ryan, she bent down and kissed his lips.

A kiss from her was the last thing he wanted. "Stop it Cheryl, why do you have me tied up here?"

She sat down on the bed and started stroking his hair, "I just want us to be happy and I thought that all you needed was some time alone with me to realize that".

He tried his best to move his head out of the way of her hand but this only seemed to anger her as she suddenly pulled his hair rather hard and forced his face toward hers. Once again he was surprised at how strong she was.

She looked at Ryan with a look of hatred in her eyes, "If you keep on behaving like this I will be forced to hurt you, do you understand?" She stared at him waiting for an answer, but when she didn't get what she wanted she yanked at his hair even harder, "Do you understand?"

"Yes"

"There, now isn't that better". She was soon rubbing the area of his head that she had previously been pulling at. When she stopped she reached for something on the table. She brought it into view as she said "I know what you need. You need something to help you relax again. It hasn't been too long since I gave this to you but I think you can handle another dose".

Ryan's eyes were now wide open as he saw what she had in mind. She had a syringe filled with some kind of fluid that she was preparing to use. "What are you planning on doing with that?"

She moved the sleeve on Ryan's shirt up his arm before replying, "Don't worry, this will help you relax and maybe help you get some more sleep".

Ryan did his best to move his arm but he was tied to the bed too tightly to get out of the way of the needle. "Don't do this Cheryl, if you let me go you still have time to get away". He kept his eyes on the needle the whole time he was talking to her, but she wasn't listening. The needle was almost upon him as he tried one last time, "Please don't do this, I promise to do whatever you want me to do". Nothing seemed to get through and soon Ryan was feeling the effects of whatever she had injected into his body. His eyes were feeling very droopy and it wasn't long before he lost his battle to stay awake.

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Author's note: sorry I have failed to say thanks to those of you who had given me reviews for past chapters.

A special thanks goes out to Trish, I'm glad you're still reading this story and enjoying it and leaving me reviews.


	23. Chapter 23

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Horatio showed up at Ryan's condo shortly after he received the call from Calleigh. He reviewed the information that she had found up to that point and agreed with her that Ryan did not leave of his own free will.

Horatio left people at Ryan's place to gather up more evidence, but his opinion of what happened was the same as Calleigh's; he had somehow been taken by Cheryl Mills.

The rest of the evening passed by quickly as plans of how they would start looking for Ryan was developed. They were not sure how he was removed from his condo when it was being watched, but there was a small window of opportunity when the officer had left his post to take care of a personal issue. They had this time frame to work on and were starting to see if any of Ryan's neighbors had seen anything.

It was morning before Horatio finally insisted that Calleigh go home and get some sleep. He knew she was exhausted but told her that she could join in the search when she was able to. He was tired as well but chose to stay and help coordinate the search. Like any kidnapping case, the longer they waited to start looking the more unlikely they would be in finding him.

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Ryan opened his eyes to see a small beam of sunlight streaming in from the window. The last thing he remembered was Cheryl being here and injecting him with something. He didn't know what she had given him, but luckily the only after affects he was feeling was a headache. As he studied the room he was in he finally realized that his legs were no longer tied to the bed. He was glad to be able to move them, but they felt stiff from having most likely been in the same position all night. Unfortunately his hands were still bound just as tight as they had been before. Any attempts he made to try and loosen the ropes only made his arms ache.

As he lay on the bed waiting the door opened. He looked up and saw Cheryl looking rather refreshed and wearing a very provocative dress. He hoped she hadn't been trying to get his attention with the dress because he no longer had any feelings of love for her.

"Good Morning sweetie, I hope you had a good night's rest. I thought I would let you move your legs around a little bit while you slept, but now that you're awake I can't take any chances". She grabbed one of his legs and had it in the ropes before he could do anything about it, but when she went for his other leg she found a lot more resistance. "Stop moving your leg. I give you something nice and this is the way you treat me?" She gave up trying to wrestle with his leg long enough to grab a baseball bat from behind the door. "Now if you don't stop moving I will be forced to hurt you".

Ryan couldn't believe any of this. How did this get to be so bad? "You already have my arms tied up, why do you need my legs tied up as well".

Since she was not getting anywhere with him she suddenly sent the bat crashing down hard on his knee cap, "I make the rules and when I say give me your leg I expect you to do just that". She could see that she had caused just enough pain in his knee for him to be momentarily distracted. She grabbed his leg and quickly wound the ropes around it. "There, now that's better. Maybe next time you'll listen to me".

Ryan just stared at her not knowing what to say. The pain she caused him was intense but luckily it was starting to fade. He watched her as she left the room but was disappointed when she quickly returned. He could see that she was carrying a tray of food. He knew he should be hungry, but what she injected him with was still causing a headache; and he was never hungry when his head hurt.

As she put the tray down she said, "I bet you're hungry. I made you some toast and oatmeal; it's always been my favorite breakfast foods so I thought it should be yours too". She took off a napkin from the tray and laid it on Ryan's chest, "there now, I can't have you getting dirty now can I". She smiled at him before picking up a spoon of oatmeal, "Now open wide". She put the spoon to his mouth and her smile grew bigger as he took the offered food. The smile however didn't last long when it was suddenly spit back in her face.

Ryan just lay there with a smile on his face but it was his turn to have his smile disappear as her hand suddenly made contact with his face. The brunt force of the blow pushed his head to the side, but when he turned to look at her he felt another blow that was even stronger than the first. This time he didn't look at her and was glad when he didn't feel anything else after that.

Cheryl towered over him not saying a word as she wiped the food off her face. When she was done she violently grabbed Ryan's chin and forced him to look at her, "If you weren't hungry you should have said something. Now I had to go and hurt you for your actions. Well, I think I will leave you alone to think about what you did. You had better be hungry when I get back because I will not tolerate this action from you again".

Ryan did his best to shake off her hand, but he gave up when he realized he didn't have it in him. When she finally let go he watched as she took the tray out and return within seconds. She removed something from her pocket and brought it over to him. He was terrified to see that it was another syringe.

She once again pulled his sleeve up, "Now I think it is time you learned some manners. What I have here will help you listen to me". She started to push the needle into his arm all the while ignoring Ryan's pleas for her to stop. She really wasn't listening to him and when she was done she stood there and watched as his eyes rolled up in the back of his head. She then covered him up with a blanket and kissed his lips before leaving.

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After getting some sleep Calleigh was back to work. She had other cases to work on but her mind kept going back to Ryan. She had talked to Horatio to find out if they had gotten closer to finding Ryan. She was disappointed when he told her that they had not found anything yet.

She had personally gone over all the evidence they had collected and was very angry when she failed to see something that may have been missed. It was just like Horatio had said; nothing new had been found. She was having a hard time believing that there was nothing that was left behind that would give them a clue as to where he might be. It wasn't until she was talking to Natalia that she came to the conclusion that Cheryl's training in criminal law had been the one factor that was overlooked. Since she was aware of what investigators look for, she was probably being very careful to not leave a trace of anything behind. But if Calleigh's years of expertise told her one thing, it was that everyone slips up at some point and she was going to be there when it happened.

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Author's note: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I really do appreciate them.

The next chapter should be up soon. I started working on it before I even posted this one so if the weekend goes as planned I should get it done soon.


	24. Chapter 24

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Ryan had lost track of all time as he lay bound in the same bed. He was beginning to crumble after the constant abuse from Cheryl. If she wasn't hitting him with something, she was injecting him with something that he could only guess was some form of additive drug. When the drug would wear off he was starting to experience withdrawal symptoms and when he received an injection he seemed to forget about how awful Cheryl was and all her torture was. He was losing his will and he didn't seem to care as much as he did before. He was beginning to rely on Cheryl for the drug and the little food and water that she was giving him. He was also glad that when he did as he was told she would not beat him. The only thing he wished was different was the fact that he was still tied to the same bed. He didn't' think he would get very far if he was suddenly untied because his body had given up awhile ago and he knew it would betray him when he really needed it. He was just grateful; if this was even possible; that she took care of his more personal needs. The last thing he needed was to be laying in the bed in his own filth. He didn't enjoy what she was doing, but at least he was clean.

The one constant thing he had in the room however was music. Cheryl thought it would help keep him company and she was right. He thought he may have gone made by now if there was nothing to keep him mind occupied. The song that was now playing was one that he had heard so much that by now he finally had all the words memorized. If he had been in a different predicament he may have enjoyed the song, but now it was one that only made him sick to his stomach as he heard it. As he lay there trying to ignore the music, Cheryl came into the room, once again wearing one of her provocative dresses. She walked over and turned the music off before saying anything. It was these little things that he was finding that he liked about her. It was almost as if she knew when he had had enough and did something to change it.

"Good morning love. I hope you slept well last night".

Ryan had learned by now to not say anything to her until she indicated he could speak. He had too many bruises to show for his past offenses. But he knew she was waiting for a response so he gave her one, "I did, thank you".

She sat down on the bed next to him and caressed his face before bending down and kissing him. "So, I thought we could do something different today. Would you like that?"

Ryan could only nod his head at this question. He had experiences her idea of different things before and they were not always pleasant. He really just wanted their same old routine to continue because he would at least know what to expect. But if it came down to choices the one thing he didn't want to change was whatever she would inject him with. He liked how it felt when it entered his body and hated the feeling of when it wasn't there. He knew he was addicted to whatever it was, but if he were going to live this way it was the only thing that made it tolerable.

Cheryl stood up and went to his feet and started undoing the ropes, as was her usual practice each morning before she cleaned him up. But this time when she was done she went to the ropes on his hands. "Now, the thing I thought we could change was the fact that you are tied up in this bed. I think you have learned enough to know that I love you and only want the best for you. So if you disappoint me you will only end up back here on the bed tied up again".

Ryan couldn't believe his luck. She was letting him sit up in bed, something he hadn't done in a long time. The first thought that sprang to mind was leaping of the bed, throwing her down on the floor and escaping, but when his left hand was the first to be undone he found that he no longer had the strength to lift it up. It lay on the pillow while she went over and undid his other hand. Once he had both hands free he found the ability to sit up on his own was no longer an option either. When she suddenly put her arm behind his back and helped him sit up he looked at her and would have said thank you, but he knew better.

"There, how does this feel. I brought you some oatmeal and toast for breakfast, would you like to feed yourself today or would you like me to help you again".

He really didn't feel all that hungry at the moment, but he knew it might be awhile before he ate again. "I would like to do it myself".

"Ok, let me go and get the tray from the next room, I'll be right back".

He watched as she left the room. Now was his time to get out of here, but when he tried to move he found he lacked the strength. He felt so weak that he knew the farthest he would get was the floor, and by then she would know he had tried to escape. He decided to just wait for her return.

When Cheryl came back to the room she couldn't help but smile. She liked seeing her man doing what he was told. She brought the tray over and placed in over Ryan's lap. "Here you go, let me know if you need any help".

Ryan looked at the food and thought about what to eat first. He was so sick of oatmeal that he decided to try for the bread. He slowly worked on bring his hand up to grab the bread, and after several attempts he was finally able to grab it and bring it to his mouth. He chewed a few bites and then decided it was time for the oatmeal, but when he went for the spoon he found that picking it up was not as easy as he thought. After struggling with it for a few times Cheryl was suddenly by his side.

"Here, I can see you need a little help". She picked up the spoon and started to feed him.

Once breakfast was over he closed his eyes. He didn't think he would be this tired after having already slept through the night, but he figured it was due to him using his body after having been denied for so long. When he felt his arm being touched he opened them up and saw what was happening. Cheryl was preparing to inject him again. He didn't even try to fight her. As the fluid entered his body a feeling of joy flooded through him and once again nothing else mattered.

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It had been two weeks since Ryan had disappeared. Calleigh found herself thinking only him lately and it was beginning to show in her work. There was a special team that was put together to try and locate him, but she was helping them when she wasn't doing her regular job and not getting much sleep. Horatio had asked to speak to her this morning and she knew exactly what he was going to talk about.

When she walked into Horatio's office she was offered a chair which she took happily. She looked at Horatio and waited for him to start.

"I'm removing you from your current case".

Before he could finish Calleigh came to her defense. "Have I done something wrong to be removed from the case? I know I've been a little preoccupied lately but I think we all have since Ryan went missing".

Horatio stood up walked over to the front corner of his desk. He leaned up on the desk as he continued, "It's true that you have been distracted lately, but I assure you this is not because of anything you have done. I think you need some time off to relax. Ever since Mr. Wolfe's disappearance I have been keeping an eye on you and I think it's time to take a break".

She was glad it was not due to her performance, but it never looked good to be removed from a case. Truth be told, she could use a break. She stared him right in the eyes and said "How long?"

"I think two weeks would be enough time, but if you find yourself needing more than let me know".

Calleigh stood up and thanked Horatio before leaving his office. Her plan was to talk to the others and let them know she was leaving and then head home. She knew she was supposed to be taking a break, but she planned on using this time to search for Ryan.

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	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note: I guess I am on a role. I wasn't planning on getting two chapters posted in one day, but the opportunity was there to get some writing done and I took it. I am actually working on the chapter after this and who knows, it may be up tomorrow, unless Christmas shopping gets in the way. Can't believe Christmas is almost here; where did this year go? Well anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. I hope it's good, I don't think I rushed it, but who knows. **

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Calleigh had gone home after being told to take a break and had gotten a decent night's sleep, but now that she was awake all she could think about was Ryan. She had been working on some ideas with another CSI and she had a few possible leads that needed to be followed up on. With the time off this gave her a chance to see if the leads panned out or if they just led to a dead end.

She was just about to call her friend for help when she heard her cell phone going off. She grabbed it off the counter and answered it, "This is Calleigh".

"Calleigh, I don't have long, but I need your help".

"Ryan is that you, where are you? Are you ok?"

"I don't know, I got a quick look outside and it looks familiar but it seems to be in the middle of nowhere".

"Ryan, are you ok?"

"I'm ok".

This was the last thing she heard Ryan say on the phone. The phone call was suddenly ended. Calleigh looked at the number of the last phone and saw that it was not listed. It must have been blocked on the other end. She thought about trying to see if the number would be listed if she chose to call back the last number received, but she quickly decided it was a bad idea. She could tell he was scared when he called and she didn't want to add to his dilemma if who ever had him suddenly received a call from her.

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Ryan had found Cheryl's cell phone by sheer luck and took one of the biggest risks of his life by taking it. When he knew she was gone he called the one person he trusted the most, but unfortunately it was shorted lived when he heard Cheryl coming back. He had ended the call and quickly hid the phone out of sight. He really didn't want her to know he had taken it and used it. He needed to remove the last called dialed from the phone and then somehow get rid of it.

"I forgot to give you something before I left. Here, give me your arm".

Ryan did as he was told since he had been starting to feel the withdrawal symptoms starting after not having his usual does of the drug that he was now addicted too. Once the needle was injected he laid his head back down on the pillows and watched Cheryl leave. This had been his normal routine ever since she untied his arms. She would give him his injection and then run off to take care of things. He was never sure of where she went, but when he finally found the strength to look out the window he could see they were out in the middle of nowhere and he figured she never went far. But he could never see if she actually went anywhere. He could only get a small glimpse out the window because his one leg was now chained to the wall. Luckily the chain was long enough to allow him to use the bathroom and just long enough for him to get close to the window. The chain, as she had explained on numerous occasions, was there because even though she trusted him, she could not take any chances.

As the drug was taking affect he pulled the phone back out. He needed to work quickly before the drug took affect because once it did he may forget what it was he was doing. He opened the phone and erased the last dialed call. He then made his way over to the window where if he stretched his body he was able to open the window a little. It wasn't much room, but it was enough for him to get his hand out and throw the phone outside. If he was lucky Cheryl would think she dropped it while she was outside and she would never suspect him of having it.

He went back to the bed and felt the drug starting to take over. He really did like this feeling and it was all he dreamed of lately. He still thought of escaping, but he was still too weak and Cheryl had him right where she wanted him.

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After Ryan's call Calleigh had gotten a hold of Horatio and told him what had just happened. He told her to come down to the station to see if there was any way of finding out where the last call came from. She could only hope they would be able to.

As she entered the lab one of the technicians came up and asked for the phone. He took it back to his desk and got to work on it right away. In the meantime Horatio had come in and started asking about the call. There was not much to go on, but the fact that he said the place outside looked familiar was something to go on. It had been Calleigh who had come up with the possibility that maybe Cheryl had taken Ryan to this place before. They went to work on finding out all the places the two had gone, which was not an easy task. There was no one around to ask so all they had to go on were possible Ryan and Cheryl's past credit card transactions. Maybe they would show all the places the two had been to since they started dating. It was something new to work on and Calleigh wasn't wasting anytime on it.

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It had been hours since Ryan had called and they were getting nowhere with tracing the phone call. The only thing they had left to go on was the history of both of their credit transactions. They had managed to get a hold of Ryan's but there was nothing on it to indicate where they had gone. Calleigh felt guilty looking at the records that showed what he had charged on his cards. They all looked like they were for paying for his rent or paying for his car or just paying off other credit cards. She had known he was still trying to pay off some debts, but she never had a clue that he was this bad off.

When they got a summary of Cheryl's credit cards, they found a few things on them they might give them a clue. One of the things that Calleigh noticed was the time they spent at a bed and breakfast. According to the map there was a lot of wilderness around that area and it may be a place to start. Ryan did mention he looked like he was out in the middle of nowhere.

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	26. Chapter 26

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Calleigh was getting ready to take off with one of the teams assigned to Ryan's case. They had agreed to scout the areas of the few places that Ryan and Cheryl had gone to. It was thought to be a long shot that she would have taken him back to one of the places, but at this point they had nothing left to go on.

The two teams consisted of several officers from the station as well as officers from the areas being searched. The team that Calleigh was on was heading out to the bed and breakfast to see what they could find. Someone had talked to the owners of the place and they had confirmed that Ryan and Cheryl had indeed stayed there, but as for where they may have gone when they were here they didn't know. They did however provide some information about the area and it looked like they were going to have their work cut out for them.

On the drive over Calleigh had a map open on her lap looking at the areas that someone had marked as possible places of interest. She tried to memorize the layout as best she could, but her mind kept thinking back to Ryan and wondering if he was still alive. She was afraid that Cheryl might have found out about the call and did something to him. She just hoped they were heading in the right direction, but she wished they were there already.

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Today was yet another day for Ryan, all of which was the same as it was yesterday. The day to day routine had been the same for the last 5 days and he was beginning to rely on it just as much as the drug. It somehow kept him balanced in this bizarre situation so much that he was still able to keep a part of who he used to be hidden away from Cheryl. There were several times in the last few weeks that he was afraid there was nothing left of himself but he kept fighting the inner demons to let him stay. He still had hopes of escaping and everyday without Cheryl's knowledge he was getting stronger. He couldn't do much while being chained to the room, but it was enough to gain some muscle strength back. He knew one of these days he would feel the time was right and bolt from this place.

As Ryan was washing himself up he heard Cheryl in the other room. He could only assume she was preparing their evening meal and would soon be coming in. He hoped it was something other than oatmeal and toast, but he had realized long ago that this was either the only thing Cheryl knew how to make or it was the only thing she had stocked up on.

He made his way back to this bed and waited for Cheryl. Before too long the door opened with the ever familiar tray and yes it was oatmeal and toast again.

"Hi baby, you look nice tonight. Did you clean yourself up for me, how wonderful. Well I hope you're hungry because I made your favorite". She put the tray down on the table next to the bed and then pulled over the one chair in the room. She waited for Ryan to sit on the edge of the bed before she placed a napkin in his lap. "There, now you're ready to eat".

Ryan said thank you before picking the spoon up and stirring up his food. He must have been stirring too long because before he knew it Cheryl had taken the bowl away from him. He looked up at her and for a moment panic flooded through him as he realized he didn't know is she had said anything before taking the food away.

Cheryl stood up when she didn't get a response. She also couldn't help but notice Ryan was stirring his oatmeal for an unusual amount of time so she decided to take it away. "Is something wrong with your food? You usually start eating it right away".

Ryan didn't know what to say. He was afraid that whatever he said would make her angry so he just stared at her.

When all she got was the dumb look on his face, she went over to him and slapped him as hard she could, "Well, answer me".

He wanted to rub his cheek but thought better of it. He needed to answer her, "I'm sorry, I guess I was just thinking and didn't realize how long I was taking".

"You better be sorry. I expect you to eat what is placed in front of you so I guess if you want to eat tonight you will just have to do it without me". She grabbed the bowl and dumped the contents onto the floor. "Now get down there and eat your food".

This was the last thing Ryan expected from her, so he had no idea of what to do next. He looked at the food on the floor and didn't know if she really expected him to eat it off the floor or what. He was starting to sweat and he knew that this was a combination of panic and the beginning of withdrawal symptoms. He should have just eaten the oatmeal and then he could have received his necessary desert; the injection. When he dared to look at her he found himself suddenly being shoved to the floor.

"Well, are you going to eat it or not?" She kept her hand on the back of his neck and refused to let him back up. When she felt his head moving toward the floor she felt better and let go.

Ryan had no choice; he had to eat what was in front of him or face the consequences. He scooped up the slop and put it in his mouth, cringing at the idea of eating off the floor.

Cheryl put the rest of the items back on her tray and then moved away from Ryan. Before she opened up the door she looked back and saw that Ryan still eating. "Once you're done I expect the floor to be cleaned off, I don't want bugs around here. And if you're wondering, you can forget about your desert. I think I have been letting you off to easy and you need to learn a lesson again". She opened the door and walked out.

Ryan kept eating as she left and when he heard the familiar locks being moved he stopped eating. He sat back allowing the bed to hold him up. He wasn't quite sure what he had done to deserve this, but he had to remember not to anger her again.

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Calleigh and the others had finally arrived at the bed and breakfast. They were told by the owners that they could set up camp while they were in the area and their offer had been gladly accepted. Calleigh helped unload their gear and waited until everyone was settled before they talked about their first task. It was decided that once the officers from the area who had volunteered to help showed up they would break off in teams of 5. They were going to use the bed and breakfast as a starting point and fan out in all directions to see if there was anything out there that may have been what Ryan meant by looking familiar. Calleigh wanted to start right away, but the person in charge wanted at least one local officer on each team so they had to wait.

While they waited their hosts treated them to some food and conversation. Calleigh sat with the owners while she sipped ice tea from her glass. She asked them if they had remembered Ryan and they said they did. They also said they remembered Cheryl and that they knew her before her visit. Calleigh found this interesting and asked them what they knew of her, but it wasn't much. They had only known her from a previous visit and thought she was a nice enough girl and that the both of them made a cute couple. It was when they started to ask why they were looking for them and what made them think they were in the area that Calleigh knew it was time to end the discussion. She thanked them and excused herself to see if the others had finally shown up.

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Ryan was sitting on the floor next to the toilet waiting for the next wave of dry heaves to come. He had already managed to throw up any food he had in his stomach and now there was nothing left. But it was the shaking and sweating that made him realized that he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. All he could think about was the drug that Cheryl was withholding from him. He thought if she were too walk in the door right now he would probably do anything she wanted as long as she gave him what he needed.

He quickly grabbed the edge of the toilet as he was once again overcome with need to throw up, but when nothing came up again he sat back down and closed his eyes. If someone were here and offered to shoot him, he would have taken them up on it, as long as it took the agony and pain away. His eyes were still closed when he heard the door in the other room open. He had no strength left to even open his eyes to face her so he just stayed put. He figured he would learn soon enough what Cheryl wanted.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?"

Ryan heard her and slowly opened his eyes. She was standing in the doorway of the bathroom staring at him. She had a peculiar look about her and he didn't have a clue as to what it meant. But he didn't want to anger her again so he weakly answers her by saying "Yes, I have learned my lesson".

"And what lesson is that?"

"To do as I am asked".

Cheryl came over to Ryan and sat next to him on the floor. "Yes, that is correct my dear. I'm sorry you had to go through this, but I needed you to know who was in charge here". She caresses his face for a moment and continued, "Now, I think it is time to get you cleaned up and give you what you want. Would you like that?"

Ryan looked her right in the eye at the mention of getting what he wanted. It wasn't hard for him to produce and answer to the question. He quickly said "Yes".

She stood up and went over to the bathtub. She reached down and turned on the water and then went back to where Ryan was. "Well, I think a bath is in order. You're not looking your best at the moment". She reached for his hand and said, "Can you stand up darling?"

Ryan nodded his head and took her offered hand. With a little effort on his part he was soon standing up and leaning against the sink. He was now looking at Cheryl who was busy removing his shirt. Once his shirt was off she removed the rest of his clothes and took him by the hand. She led him over to the tub that was now almost completely filled with water. "Ok, it's time to get in and get cleaned off". She helped him into the tub and once he was seated her hand moved down toward the chain around his leg. "Now, I am going to trust you to take a bath without this, but don't get to use to it because it will be going back on". She unlocked the shackles and laid them on the floor. She then stood up and retrieved something from her pocket.

Ryan had been watching her and when he saw the syringe his eyes grew wide with delight.

Cheryl could tell he was pleased. She once again sat in front of the tub and took his arm. "Here, I know you have been waiting for this. But I want to tell you that if you disobey me again I promise you I will not be so forgiving in the future".

The fluid was injected into Ryan's arm and everything that he had been experiencing was gone. He lay back in the tub and allowed the warm water to become one with his skin. He was so lost in the feeling the drug produced that he didn't even realized that Cheryl was still there. He didn't even realize it when she was pulling him up and drying him off or when she walked him into the room and laid him down on the bed.

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	27. Chapter 27

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**Author's note: I would like to thank those of you that keep leaving a review for the story. I have used them as evidence that the story must go on and be finished at some point. A special thanks to Trish, your support means the world to me.  
Please enjoy the next chapter, hope you like it. **

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It was day two of the search and Calleigh was going on very little sleep. She knew if she were to be of any help she needed to rest, but there was something that was telling her they were close. They had panned out in several different directions the day before and they were heading out in the opposite direction today. The area she was assigned to was a very dense part of the forest and it would be easy to miss some little cabin or hut tucked away in the brush. Due to the layout of the area they were heading out on 4 wheelers today and due the limited number of such vehicles there were fewer people going out with Calleigh's group. The group was also aware of the possibility that the search may have to be called off early due to a storm heading in their direction or face the possibility of getting stuck out in the forest until the storm passed. For some reason Calleigh was willing to spend the night in the forest if it meant she could search longer so she made sure to let someone know. She knew one of the other officers was also willing to stay so it was possible her group may split up into an even smaller group later in the day.

With their gear all loaded up they headed out. Calleigh just hoped the storm would hold off long enough for them to find Ryan.

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Ryan woke up and felt unusually warm and snug. He opened his eyes and saw a small amount of light coming from the window so he figured it must be morning. As he shifted in his bed he realized that he was not alone. He looked next to him and saw that Cheryl was tucked under the blankets with her eyes closed. It was quite apparent from her breathing that she was asleep. He tried to remember what happened last night that led to her staying with him, but his mind was blank.

He also noticed something else and that was his leg was missing the shackle that kept him attached to this room. His mind was starting to race with this information and he realized that this was the break that he was looking for. If he was going to escape he needed to do it now and he knew he had to be careful to not wake Cheryl.

He carefully moved the blankets off of himself and was very surprised to see that he didn't have any clothes on. He took a chance and looked at Cheryl under the covers and saw that she also had no clothes on. He still couldn't remember what happened, but he was not so out of his mind to know that Cheryl must have taken advantage of him while he was riding high on his last dose of the drug. As he thought about this he suddenly thought of the drug and wished he had some to take the edge off of the situation. He wondered how far he was going to get without having his next dose.

He slowly got out of bed and searched quietly for his clothes. He didn't see them anywhere, but then he started to remember last night and realized that he had been in the bathroom with Cheryl at one point. He walked into the room and when he didn't see anything his mind started to panic. He knew this was his time to escape, but he didn't want to be running around in the woods without any clothes on. He decided to see if Cheryl had left the door unlocked and see if he could find anything in the other room.

As he tried the door he was disappointed to find it was locked. Now his only way out would be through the window and he still didn't have any clothes. He had to quickly rethink this plan of his before Cheryl woke up. As he looked in her direction to make sure she was still sleeping he saw her clothes lying next to the bed. He went over and started to search through them. He was just about to admit defeat when his hand felt something that was hard and small like a key. He pulled it out and found that it was definitely a key. He rushed over to the door and put it into the lock. As he said a silent prayer for it to open he turned the key. When it made the all too familiar noise of being unlocked he looked back at Cheryl before venturing out into the other room.

The room he entered was dark and due to his unfamiliarity with the place he ran into something causing him to stub his toe. He wanted to cry out from the pain, but he forced himself to ignore what he was feeling. As his eyes adjusted to his new surrounding, he saw that the room was fairly bare except for a small table and refrigerator. He looked around and saw there was another room to his left. As he entered it he saw his clothes hanging from a rope that was stretched across the perimeter of the room. As soon as he reached for them he found that they were very damp, which would explain why they were hanging up; Cheryl must have cleaned them at some point. It didn't really matter, he needed to get away so he pulled on his pants and then slipped on his shirt. He couldn't help but shudder as a chill coursed through his body. The only thing he didn't see were his shoes, but the last time he remembered seeing his shoes was when he was first abducted. It didn't matter, he could live without them.

Before going outside, he quickly looked around for anything else that might be helpful. He managed to find some bread and water, both of which he grabbed for his escape. Before heading out the door he looked back one last time hoping to see something else to take along, but whatever Cheryl had been injecting him with was nowhere in sight.

Once outside Ryan looked around and saw that he had been kept in a small cabin that was built into a few trees. From his first glance he could see why she had chosen this location; it was something that may be overlooked if someone wasn't looking for it. He looked around the cabin to see if there was any sign of a vehicle, but when his eyes failed to find one he set off in the direction that seemed the most likely to lead him somewhere safe.

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	28. Chapter 28

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Cheryl stretched her arms above her head before she opened her eyes to look at Ryan. When she put her left arm down and felt an empty pillow she was awake and sitting up within a matter of seconds. She got up and threw the blanket around herself as she went into the bathroom. When she didn't him in there either she rushed to the door and found that it was still locked. There was nowhere else he could have gone but out the window, but after close inspection she found that it was locked as well. As she leaned against the window thinking it suddenly dawned on her that the key to the door had been in her pants pocket which she had set next to the bed. She went over and grabbed her pants and after a quick look she found the key to be missing. This would explain why the door was locked and why Ryan was not here. He had found the key and let himself out. Since she didn't know when he had done this she knew he could be anywhere by now, but she was pretty certain he was still out in the woods since the closest sign of civilization was at least a two day trek by foot.

Her first task was getting out the room, which wasn't difficult since she had an extra key that was always in the room but hidden out of sight. As soon as she unlocked the door she went to see if he had found his clothes. She knew he wouldn't have gotten very far if he were running around the woods naked. When she found his clothes missing she became very angry with herself for underestimating Ryan. She had thought he was finally under her complete control and would have chosen to stay with her, but she was wrong. She had obviously not broken him as well as she had thought. But she knew she had one thing on her side and that was the drug. She was glad that she had hidden it long ago and was very confident he had not found her stash. She knew it wouldn't be long before he would need another dose so she was hoping to use this to her advantage and find him before someone else did.

She got herself dressed, packed up a few provisions and set off to find her guy.

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The territory Calleigh was currently riding in was rough and she felt every bump while sitting on the back of a four wheeler. She could see why someone might like this area to hide out in.

They had been out riding and looking for the past 5 hours and only had a few more areas to cover, but the sky was starting to turn a deadly shade of grey and there was talk of stopping for the day, but Calleigh wanted to keep going. The officer in their group who knew the area said that there was a shelter not far from the direction they were headed in and they could always stop there to get out of the storm if necessary.

After some deliberation it was decided that one group would head back while the other kept on going. Calleigh made sure she was in the group that kept going.

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After having split from the group 40 minutes ago the rain started to fall. It was light and manageable at first, but it didn't last long. They were still about 4 miles away from the shelter and didn't think they would make it if the area turned to mud. It was decided that they should mark the area as being unsearched and head to the shelter. Once the storm was over they would make their way back here and keep looking. For some reason though, Calleigh didn't like this decision at all. She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt like she was close to where Ryan was and she didn't want to leave. She tugged on the sleeve of the officer who was currently driving the 4 wheeler they were on and got him to stop. Since they were upfront of the group the other 4 wheelers behind them stopped.

Calleigh waited until they turned off the vehicles before saying what she needed to say. "Is there anything around here that we can wait at? I can't explain why I feel this way, but I think we are close and we should stay close by if we are going to have a chance to find Ryan".

The driver of the vehicle Calleigh was one listened to what she had to say, but he didn't think it was a good idea. "I don't know Calleigh, I know you have a strong desire to find your friend, but I think that if we don't get moving right now, we may be stuck out here ourselves and we will be no good to your friend then".

Calleigh looked at Bob and knew that he was only thinking of their safety, but she wasn't about to let the issue rest, "I know you're only looking out for our safety Bob, but I just have this feeling that I need to stay here".

Bob shook his head, "I know you outrank me, but as the one in charge of this group I have gotta say that we need to get moving, I'm sorry Calleigh".

Calleigh was just about to respond when the one officer who was from the area spoke up, "I know this area pretty well and if Calleigh really wants to stay I would be willing to stay with her and make sure she was safe".

Bob glared at Justin and wished he had not offered to stay back because he knew that it would be harder to convince Calleigh to go with them now. "No Justin, we need to stay together and that's final".

Justin wasn't willing to give up. He didn't know Ryan or anyone from the Miami police department, but he remembered back to a time when they had searched the area for a missing person and when they found them they were too late. It was later learned that if the person had been found just a few hours earlier, they may have had a chance. If they had a shot of keeping the search going he was going to take it. He looked at Calleigh and then Bob and said, "Look, I promise to keep her safe, besides, I think if we go to the left there may still be this little shack that we could take shelter in".

As soon as Calleigh heard this she knew she had a chance to stay and jumped on it. After a few more minutes of debating, Calleigh joined Justin on his 4 wheeler while the other 2 went in the other direction.

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As the two drove through some of the thicker brush, the rain was unable to saturate the area making their trek a little easier. It was the lightening however that was starting to worry Justin. He knew that one good strike could bring down a tree and he didn't want to be in the way. He purposely turned the vehicle toward the little shack that he was hoping was still standing. It would keep them dry and safe until at least the lightening had stopped.

Calleigh was trying to pay attention to where Justin was going and when she saw what looked like a cabin tucked into several large trees she somehow knew this was the end of their search. The feeling she had been experiencing the last couple of days was so strong she knew this was the place.

As they traveled closer to the cabin, Justin suddenly turned the 4 wheeler off to the side and stopped. Calleigh was confused by his action, but when he explained that this was not the shack that he remembered from before and just wanted to take some extra precautions she understood.

Justin and Calleigh got off the vehicle and started toward the cabin on foot. "Sorry I confused you Calleigh, I just wasn't expecting this to be here. I thought it would be better if we went on foot so as to not scare off anyone that may be in there. It may be just like the other places we investigated, but we need to take the same precautions regardless".

Calleigh got behind Justin and said, "I'll follow your lead on this one Justin".

Justin had his gun out and down at his side as he came to what looked like the back of the cabin. He looked back at Calleigh and saw that she had done the same. Once he was at the back he looked in the window but found everything dark. "I can't see anything in the window; maybe we better go and check the front. But from all appearances it seems unoccupied".

They moved to the front and after looking through the window it was decided that no one was inside. Justin went to the door and cautiously turned the knob. When it opened he silently motioned Calleigh to his side while he quickly went inside. Once inside he found that it was indeed empty and called Calleigh in. "All clear Calleigh, it doesn't look like anyone is here".

Calleigh walked inside and looked around, "There may not be anyone here right now, but from the looks of the place there was someone here recently". She pointed to the sink to show that there were a few dirty dishes and some food sticking to them didn't look all that old. "This food hasn't been here too long. Whoever it was, they haven't been gone for too long". She went over to the small refrigerator and picked up a carton of milk, "this definitely confirms that they had been here recently, the expiration date on the milk is in 2 days". She put the milk back and closed the door.

Justin left Calleigh in what appeared to be the kitchen to go exam one of the other rooms. He walked into the room and saw that it was a bedroom. When he saw something odd he called out, "Calleigh, I think you need to see this".

Calleigh made her way to Justin and found him holding some shackles. "Are those what I think they are?"

"If you think you're looking at some shackles, then you're absolutely correct. I would say that whoever was here was either into some kinky stuff or we may have found out where Ryan was being kept. But the question that still remains is; where is he now?"

-

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Authors Note: sorry there was no Ryan in this chapter, but expect to see lots of him in the next one.


	29. Chapter 29

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When Ryan had run from the cabin he had no idea of where he was or which direction he was going in, but he had chosen the route that looked the most likely to lead him to civilization. After about 30 minutes of hiking through the woods he couldn't have made a more wrong decision.

He had started out on what looked like a clear trail, but now he had to move the brush away just to get through. The trail was also fraught with rock making his travel unbearable after awhile. His bare feet were not meant for these woods and he knew that if he stopped to look at them he would probably see that they were all torn up on the bottom. He also knew he would not have the desire to move on if he knew so he forced himself forward one foot at a time.

His journey became worse as it started to rain. This was the last thing he needed. The rocky terrain was becoming slippery under his feet and he lost his balance on more than one occasion. The only thing the rain did was make him forget his clothes had been damp when he set out because he was totally soaked right down to the bone.

He kept looking back to make sure he wasn't being followed. He didn't see any signs of Cheryl, but he pushed himself further because he didn't want to get caught. He was not feeling his best and he didn't know if he would have the strength to fight her off.

When he couldn't run any longer he slowed down to a quick pace, but this was soon replaced with a slow walk that eventually led to him sitting on the nearest rock to rest. The rain had started to taper off so at least he wouldn't get soaked just sitting there. He looked around the area and felt frustrated that he still had not come across a path. This could only mean that he was nowhere near civilianization and had wasted the last hour going in the wrong direction.

He leaned against the tree trunk that was behind the rock and closed his eyes. He was tired and not feeling very good. He was also shaking and he knew it was a sign of withdrawal. He was hoping that he could have fought it off, but knew that it was the running around that sped the process up. He was not looking forward to breaking down because it would mean that Cheryl would have a better chance at finding him. He needed to think of something before his mind was consumed with desire for something he could not have.

He had decided that he needed to stop running and find a place to hide. This way he could ride through the worst of the symptoms without threat of being caught, but the question was; where should he go. He remembered seeing something a ways back, but this meant having to go back the way he came. He knew he had no choice and had to risk it.

He stood up on shaky legs and trudged off in the direction he had just come. He hoped he wouldn't run into anyone he knew.

-

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Cheryl had found the path that Ryan had taken and hoped he was not too far ahead. She was making good time when it had started to rain. She wasn't about to let the rain stop her, but it did prevent her from seeing Ryan's trail as it was washed away by the water.

While she assessed her location she could see that the path Ryan was originally on had disappeared, but he had been going in a straight line. Since was the only clue she had to go on at the moment she stuck with it.

As she moved along in the rain she saw an occasional broken branch or bush and knew she must be going in the right direction. She just hoped he was having as hard of a time in the rain as she was.

-

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Ryan found the spot he had seen earlier and sank to the ground as soon as he stopped moving. He was trembling and having a hard time focusing as the perspiration from his forehead dripped into his eyes.

He used a large boulder to support his body in a position that would allow him to see most of the area. If he were being followed he would see them before they saw him.

He used his sleeve to wipe the sweat off his face, but it did little to change the way he was feeling. He was starting to experience some severe withdrawal symptoms and there was nothing he could do but ride them out. As he wiped more sweat from his face he suddenly felt the urge to throw up. He was able to move away from where he had been sitting before he lost it. He started to return to the boulder but had to rush back and throw up again.

His abdominal muscles were protesting against the constant spasms and it was making him weaker by the second. When the dry heaves started he felt it was safe to go back to the boulder. He curled his body up and lay down against the rock allowing the cool surface to connect with this back. At this point he didn't care what happened to him. He didn't care if he was found because it might mean that he would get what he was so desperately craving.

-

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Calleigh walked outside the small cabin to see if there were any signs of a trail left by the person who had occupied the cabin. She didn't really expect to find any footprints because of the rain, but there could be other clues; she just needed to keep her trained eyes on the lookout. The clue she wanted to find the most was something that would connect this location to Ryan. They didn't know for certain if he had been here, but something told her he had been.

As she inspected the areas outside Justin walked over to her, "Hey Calleigh, I just got done talking to Bob. He said that they are still about an hour away so we should wait for them to get here and then we can continue the search".

"What, we can't wait. The trail will start to deteriorate the longer we delay the search. No, I think we need to keep moving and just keep them informed of our location".

Justin was starting to like the Calleigh. She was very driven about finding her friend and it made her the kind of person you would want on your side. Ryan was a lucky guy to know Calleigh and be able to call her a friend. "I agree with you Calleigh, but Bob is in charge and I think we ought to do as he says".

Calleigh didn't want to waste any time arguing about this so she started to move off in the direction that seems to be the likely one taken. As she was moving away from Justin she said, "I don't care who is in charge. Ryan is out there and I plan on finding him with or without your help".

Justin ran in Calleigh's direction, "Hey wait up Calleigh".

Calleigh stopped and turned to face Justin, "don't waste your time trying to convince me to stay".

"No, it's not that. I just didn't want you to get to ahead of me. We'll try it your way for now, but when we see Bob you're going to tell him this was all your idea, deal?"

Calleigh smiled and said, "It's a deal, now let's get moving".

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	30. Chapter 30

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As Calleigh and Justin moved through the woods they found that the path they had been following had suddenly disappeared. Justin walked up to some of the bushes and trees and saw that there were some newly broken branches from where someone had to move purposely move them to keep moving. This was a good sign since it meant they were still following someone.

They moved on through the trees in silence until Justin stopped midstride and bent down to pick up something.

Calleigh stopped along side of him, "Did you find something?"

Justin handed a bottle to Calleigh, "This was the same kind of water we found back at the cabin, wasn't it?"

"It is, but it is a pretty common brand of water". Calleigh sighed and took a seat on a tree stump. She was feeling a little discouraged. "Justin, do you really think we'll find Ryan out here? Why would Cheryl leave the cabin and bring him out here. I'm starting to wonder if we should have stayed and waited for Bob".

Justin walked over to Calleigh and put his hand on her shoulder, "I don't know if running out in the woods was the best idea we had, but now that we're out here I think we are on the right track. I don't know whether Cheryl and Ryan are out here somewhere, but we have to try. For all we know she brought him out here because she knew we were coming. From what I have been told about Cheryl she is very clever so she may have had alarms set up alerting her when someone was getting close". He sat down next to Calleigh and continued, "It just wouldn't make sense to turn back now".

Calleigh gave Justin a thoughtful look before saying "I'm sorry, I don't know why I acted like that. I have just been trying to find Ryan for so long now that it is so easy for me to get discouraged. Truth be told, I am just tired and wished we could find Ryan already".

Justin stood up and offered his hand to help Calleigh up, "Come on then, we should get going if we are going to find him".

Calleigh took his hand and was surprised by how much she allowed him to pull her up. She was tired, but this just proved how tired she really was. "Thanks Justin".

The two continued on through the bushes and trees and kept finding little clues that someone had passed, so they knew they were still going in the right direction.

-

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Ryan had been laying alongside the rock for an unknown amount of time, but one thing he was certain of was that no one had walked by his hiding area.

He did his best to sit up and when he was finally leaning back against the rock he wished he was back on the ground. He felt lousy as the trembling and the desire to throw up were still present.

He was stiff from lying on the ground and knew he should get up and stretch, but he didn't know if he had the strength. He rolled over and got on his knees and was just about to use the rock to help himself get up when heard a noise. He froze while he tried to hear what it was and from direction it was coming from.

It was a few more seconds before he heard the noise again. He was sure it was coming from the direction had had come from but he couldn't tell without hearing it again. He stayed in the same position while he waited and when he heard it for the third time he knew he was correct. He was also able to tell it was the sound of branches breaking as someone stepped on them.

His heart started to race as it dawned on him that what he was hearing was Cheryl. She had been able to get close to where he was and he was instantly mad at himself for stopping to rest. His mind was so foggy that he was finding it hard to know what to do. Should he try and make a run for it or should he get down and try to hide among the bushes hoping she will pass by without seeing him. He didn't know what to do. The shaking that was there before was becoming worse as he struggled for an answer.

As the noises got closer he realized that he was still on his knees and had not come up with a plan yet. As he crouched down to get out of sight he heard something that made his heart stop all together. He never thought hearing his name would be one of the worst sounds he could ever hear.

--

--

Calleigh wanted to stop and rest again as the feelings of defeat were once again weighing her down, but she knew she had to keep going. They had seen so many signs that someone had passed this way very recently that they knew this was the right way. What was so discouraging was the fact that the scenery didn't change and it made them wonder where they were being led to. What caused them to come out this way.

Calleigh looked at the man who was helping her with and wondered if he had been feeling the same way since he had not said a word since their last stop. She wanted to ask him but decided against it since he was in front of her and making progress in clearing a path for her.

-

They had been walking nonstop for the past 30 minutes when Calleigh thought she heard something. She stopped to listen for it, but when she didn't hear it again she started walking to catch up with Justin.

As soon as she got behind Justin she heard something again and this time she knew it was a voice. She was close enough to tug on the back of Justin's shirt.

Justin felt his shirt being tugged and he turned to face Calleigh, "What is it?"

Calleigh put her fingers up to her lips as she said "Shhhh".

Justin did had she suggested and remained quiet. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he soon found out. As they stood there frozen to the spot he heard a voice coming from up ahead. He strained to hear what the voice was saying, but as soon as he saw Calleigh's eyes widen he knew she knew something. He took a chance and whispered "What did you hear?"

Calleigh looked at Justin and was about to ask him to be silent again when the voice called out again. This time both of them heard it clearly and what they heard made them both start to run in the direction it was coming from.

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	31. Chapter 31

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When Ryan heard his name being called out he knew Cheryl had caught up with him. He struggled to get up on his feet by using the rock to help push him up. He looked in the direction of the voice and he saw that Cheryl was walking up to him at a rather fast pace. He needed to get going but for some reason his legs were not yet working. His mind was racing as he told himself to get moving, but another part of him was saying to just stay put and then he would receive the drug from Cheryl and all the pain and suffering he was feeling would go away.

He just kept staring at Cheryl as she got closer. He wondered if she thought the reason he was still standing there was because he had given up and had thrown in the towel, but he was about to disappoint her as he finally found the strength to start running.

His legs felt awkward as he ran, but eventually he was able to pick up the pace. The only thing that was making it difficult was the brush and tree branches in his way.

He stole a quick glance behind him and saw that Cheryl was now also running; and she was catching up with him. He knew that soon she would be close enough to knock him down and then there was nothing he could do. But until that happened he was going to try his best to get away.

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Cheryl could not believe her luck when she saw Ryan kneeling in the bushes. She had been looking for him for quite awhile and had been thinking of giving up, but now she knew that she was meant to be with him. She was meant to find him and bring him back and then he would realize that he could no longer live without her. But she needed to catch him first. As she ran she started shouting his name in hopes that he would stop running.

She didn't know if he knew where he was going, but she had one thing on her side; and that was she had shoes on her feet and was in better shape. She knew he would have been experiencing withdrawal symptoms and she was hoping this would slow him down.

As she got closer to him she knew it was only a matter of seconds before she could grab him, but luck was once again on her side when she saw Ryan go down amongst the bushes. This pushed her to run even faster and soon she was standing over him as he lay there holding his foot.

"Hello Ryan, I should be very angry at you for running away, but I'm not because I love you". She looked at his foot and saw that it was bleeding. This gave her the advantage since he didn't look like he would be able to do anything without her help.

Ryan knew he was busted. She had caught up with him and he would probably never get another opportunity to get away from her. He just lay on the ground holding his foot waiting for her to make the first move. He saw no point in making her angrier at this point.

-

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Calleigh and Justin had been running in the direction of the voice but when it suddenly stopped this only pushed the two to move faster. They continued in the same direction hoping they were still on the right track.

As they went up an incline Calleigh suddenly stopped as she saw Cheryl standing off in the distance. She looked like she looking at something on the ground and as luck would have it had not seen anyone following her.

Justin grabbed Calleigh and had her crouch to the ground, "I don't think she saw us, but we have to be careful that she doesn't. I don't know why she stopped, but we need to be careful with our next move".

Calleigh wanted nothing more than to rush toward Cheryl and push her to the ground, but she knew Justin was right, "Ok, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, I thought we could make our way around and one of us could make their way in front of her while the other took the back. That way if she tried to run we would have a better chance at catching her".

"Your right, it sounds like a better plan then I was thinking. I'll take her from behind and you can go in front of her".

Justin looked up from their position to check on Cheryl before saying, "Ok, that sounds good. Let's get moving".

Just as the two of them were going to start making their way toward Cheryl they heard a new voice and Calleigh knew Ryan was with her. They had heard Cheryl before but they were unable to tell what she was saying, but hearing Ryan just now told her they had finally found him. They were still going to go ahead with their plans when they suddenly heard Ryan shouting for Cheryl to leave him alone. This did not sit well with Calleigh and she decided the plan was not going to work. She stood up and started running toward Cheryl shouting her name. Justin could do nothing but follow Calleigh.

-

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Cheryl was still standing over Ryan when she decided it was time for him to stand up and go back to the cabin with her. She bent down toward him and grabbed his arm rather roughly, "Ok Ryan, it's time to come home with me".

Ryan didn't want to go back and suddenly found the strength to fight her off, "Leave me alone Cheryl".

"No Ryan, you are coming with me, besides I have something you want". She held up her backpack to prove her point.

Ryan wanted what he knew was in the backpack, but he also didn't want to go with Cheryl. He tried to get his arm back and started shouting, "No, leave me alone. I am not going to go back with you. I don't care what you do with me, but I am not going back".

Cheryl's eyes turned black if that were possible. She was angry at Ryan for defying her. Who did he think he was? "You're going to come back with me if I have to drag you all the way back, now get up".

She was just about to grab his hair when she suddenly heard shouting. She looked in the direction of the shouting and saw that Calleigh was now running toward her. She was stunned to see her here and just stood there out of shock before she realized that it was her turn to run. She looked around and saw her best way out and started running. As she started to run she dropped her pack close to Ryan, but wasn't about to go back and get it.

-

Justin saw Cheryl take off and immediately starting shouting at Calleigh, "You go take care of Ryan; I'm going to go after Cheryl".

Calleigh didn't have time to say anything to him. He was off running after Cheryl as soon as he made up his mind. She continued to make her way to where Cheryl had been. As soon as she reached the spot she stopped and looked around. It only took a second before she found Ryan cowering down in the bushes. She flung herself to the ground and gave him big hug. "Ryan, I found you".

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	32. Chapter 32

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Calleigh would have clung to Ryan longer if it were not for his reaction. She just assumed he would have been happy to have been found, but instead he pushed her away; acting as if he didn't want her there.

"What's wrong Ryan, you're safe now?"

Confusion filled Ryan's eyes as he looked at her, "Is that really you Calleigh? What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you and now that I have I'm never letting you out of my sight".

"But what about Cheryl; she'll come back and hurt you if you don't leave".

"No she won't, Justin ran after her". She started to look him over and thought he looked awful. He looked like he had lost a lot of weight and there were a number of old and new bruises all over his face and arms. When her eyes went to his feet, she could see the damage that was inflicted on his unprotected feet. They were a bloody mess and she wondered if he would be able to walk. "Ryan, do you think you'll be able to walk or should I call and see if we can't get you're carried out of here?"

He looked down at his feet and was surprised he had gotten as far as he did. He hadn't even noticed how bad they were until Calleigh mentioned them, but now that he could see them the pain became very evident. "They hurt, but I think I can make it". He allowed her to help him sit on the rock. He looked at her, "I still can't believe you're here. Are you sure I am not hallucinating?"

"I can assure you that I am really here. I've been looking for you for quite some time now".

"How long have I been gone?"

"Too long Ryan. It's been about three and half weeks now". She couldn't help but hug him again, "I am so glad I found you".

Ryan was grateful for the hug; it provided his cold body with some needed warmth. When she pulled away he wanted more, "Hey, you don't have to let go so soon, do you?"

"I really need to get you out of here. When I get you somewhere safe and warm I can hug you all you want".

Ryan liked that idea and gave her a small smile as his response.

Calleigh pulled out some water and offered it to Ryan before she got to work on his feet. She did her best to clean up the cuts and covered them with the bandages she had in the first aid kit. Not wanting him to walk on bare feet she pulled off her own socks and put them on Ryan. They were a little tight, but at least they would help keep them from getting infected; if they weren't already. Once she was satisfied, she helped him up and they started walking back the way she had come.

They had been walking for a little while but were not making very good progress. Ryan was having trouble with the rocky terrain and was depending on Calleigh's help more than she expected. She wondered if she should have just stayed where they were and waited for Justin to get back.

Calleigh stopped as they came to a fork in the trail. She looked both ways and wasn't sure which way they had come. Both paths looked as if they had been used recently so she took her best guess and went left. As they made their way she started to think they should have gone to the right. Even though the woods looked all the same to her, there was something about the area that didn't seem right. She wanted to turn back but also didn't want to alarm Ryan that she may be lost so she suggested they stop.

"I think we should rest here for a few minutes".

"Sounds like a good idea to me, I don't feel very good right now".

Calleigh offered Ryan the water again while she thought about their next move. The sky appeared to be darkening again and getting stuck out in the rain was the last thing she wanted.

"How are you feeling now?" She thought he looked worse than before and wondered if there was more going on with him then she knew.

"I'm really cold; I wish we could have a fire or something".

Calleigh saw that he was shaking a lot and was angry with herself for failing to notice it before, "Here, maybe if I sit next to you it will warm you up". She took his upper body into her arms. He was really shaking; but it didn't seem to be the kind of shaking one gets when they were cold. She had to wonder if it was something else. When he suddenly leaned away from her and threw up her suspicions grew. There was something going on and the sooner she got him out of here and checked over by a doctor the better. "Ryan, I've got to get you out of here. Do you think you're able to keep going?"

Ryan felt horrible. He wished that he could have something to make him feel better, and then he remembered the backpack he gave Calleigh to carry. "I think I could, but maybe I could look through the backpack for something to make me feel better".

Calleigh looked confused at this request. What could be in the backpack that would make him feel better? She took the pack off her shoulder and handed it to Ryan.

Ryan quickly took the pack from her and started rifling through it. He saw what he wanted but was hesitant to pull it out in front of Calleigh. He checked to see is she was watching, and when he saw that she wasn't he pulled out the syringe.

Calleigh looked at Ryan and saw that he was closing up the pack, "did you find anything in there that would help?"

"No, there was nothing in there".

"Oh, I thought it saw you pull something out".

Damn, she had seen him somehow. If she knew what he had she would never let him inject himself, but it was what he needed to get himself out of here.

She saw a guilty look flash across his face and wasn't sure what to make of it. "What's wrong Ryan, did you find something or not?"

Ryan tried to hide what he had, "No, I didn't find anything".

"What's behind your back then?"

"Nothing", When he saw Calleigh coming toward him he moved the syringe farther away in an attempt to hide it.

Calleigh didn't like the way he was acting and knew he was hiding something, "Show me what you have behind your back?"

"I don't have anything, I told you already".

Calleigh was done playing. She had no idea of the kinds of things Ryan endured with Cheryl, but there was something odd in the way he was acting and she needed to know. She was done asking and she pulled his hands out from behind his back. She was surprised at the amount of strength it took to pull his arms forward, but when she saw nothing she got down to his level and felt around. When her fingers felt something she pulled it out, but she found it being torn from her hands as soon as she looked at it.

Ryan knew she would never allow him to have it so he took it from her as soon as she found it, "It's mine Calleigh; I need this".

"Is that a syringe Ryan? What's in it?" She was trying to hold his arms down in an attempt to grab it from him, but he was quicker than she was.

"I need it Calleigh".

From the way he was acting she had a feeling as to what it was he was hiding. He had such a pitiful look in his eyes that she felt sorry for him, but it wasn't enough to make her stop. "You need to give that to me right now Ryan. I don't know what's in it or why you think you need it, but you're not getting anything until I know what it is".

She tackled him to the ground and finally pulled it away from him. She backed away from him as she saw that he was coming after her.

"Calleigh, please give that back to me, I really need it". Any attempts he made to get it from her were useless now. She knew what it was and she was not going to give it back.

"I'm sorry Ryan". She was just about to empty the syringe into the bushes when she suddenly found herself being thrown to the ground. She tried to fight back but her world went dark after something heavy connected with her head.

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	33. Chapter 33

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It happened so fast Ryan didn't have time to react. He had been moving toward Calleigh in an attempt to grab the syringe when all of a sudden she was one the ground. Cheryl had come out of nowhere and tackled her knocking her unconsciousness. He wanted to get over to help her but he fell back to the ground as he looked into Cheryl's eyes. He didn't like what he saw and was suddenly afraid to move.

"Oh baby, are you alright? I see she was trying to take your medicine away from you, but I'm here now and I'll take care of you". She walked toward Ryan but kept her distance.

Ryan tried to move away from her, but found it difficult. He desperately wanted what she had and perhaps he could try and take it from her and still manage to get both himself and Calleigh to safety.

"Are you afraid of me, you should know that I love you and would never hurt you; unless of course you deserved it". She moved a little closer, "Now, I have exactly what you need, do you want this?" She held up the syringe and by the look in his eyes she knew he wanted it. "Now if I give this to you, do you promise to be a good boy from now on?"

Ryan nodded in response; keeping his eyes on the prize the whole time.

"Ok, now that's more like it, but I need to do something first". She pulled a vial out of her shirt and used it to add fluid to the syringe, "Seeing that you have been without it for so long I think you need an extra dose".

-

Calleigh managed to open her eyes, but her head hurt so much that she found it hard to move. She did her best to look around and saw that Cheryl had returned and was putting something into the syringe. She wanted to say something but just the sheer movement of her eyes caused such pain that she blacked out again.

-

Ryan wanted, or rather needed what Cheryl had, but he also had to think about Calleigh. He stole a quick glance in her direction and her eyes were open; if only briefly. He needed to keep focused on her and getting her to safety. His own safety was the last of his priorities.

Cheryl finished and put the vial back in her shirt. She moved toward Ryan as she made sure the air bubbles in the syringe were removed. "Ok, this will make you feel much better and then we can get out of here".

As Ryan prepared for the needle to penetrate his arm he suddenly grabbed the syringe and pushed Cheryl down. He took the syringe and injected it into her neck; releasing the fluid in one quick motion.

A shocked look appeared on her face before she fell to the ground. She pulled the syringe out of her neck as she looked at Ryan. "Why did you do this? I love you and would have taken care of you".

"I don't need you Cheryl. It's time you realize that". He got up from the ground and made his way over to Calleigh, all the while ignoring Cheryl's pleas for him to stop and come back to her.

Once he was by Calleigh's side he checked for any injuries and found there was blood on the side of her head. He tried to wake her up and when there was no response he knew he had a decision to make. He needed to get her to safety and the only way to do that was to pick her up and carry her. He bent down and cradled her body in his arms and he tried to stand up. He was feeling very weak and dizzy, but he had to push these feeling aside. After trying a few times he found the strength he needed to stand up. He brought Calleigh close to his body and did his best to move.

He looked over at Cheryl and saw that she was passed out on the ground. He remembered the first few times when he had been drugged and knew she would be out for a while.

As he clumsily made his way through the woods, he hoped he would find this Justin person that Calleigh had mentioned. He kept looking down at Calleigh and was worried when there was no response. She probably had a concussion and needed a doctor.

He looked back to make sure he was not being followed and could no longer see where Cheryl was; which was a good thing. He had managed to get farther than he thought he could have, but as he was just beginning to think luck was on his side it started to rain again. The rain drops falling on Calleigh's face caused her to open her eyes.

"Ryan, what are you doing?"

"It's ok Calleigh, you're safe now. I'm trying to find somebody to help you".

Calleigh looked around and saw that she was being carried by Ryan. As she thought back she remembered being thrown to the ground and seeing Cheryl about to give Ryan the syringe. But there was no sign of the other woman. "Where's Cheryl?"

"I left her back there; she should be out for a while".

She was confused and wanted to get down, "Ryan, please stop and put me down. I can walk on my own".

"No Calleigh, you may have a concussion and I need to get you help".

"You're the one who needs help, now please put me down".

Ryan stopped and did as he was told. He gently put Calleigh down by a tree. He nervously looked around to make sure they were still not being followed. He didn't like just standing around.

Calleigh moved slowly as she assessed her injury. She could tell there was blood, but it seemed to be a small wound. She may have a slight concussion, but it was not enough to make her stop. "We need to get out of this rain".

"We need to get you to a doctor".

Calleigh sighed knowing that she was getting nowhere with him. "We'll get ourselves to the doctor after we get out of the rain, now did you see anything that looked like a good shelter?"

"There may be something up ahead". He helped her up and the two of them made their way to a group of trees that seems to be keeping the rain out.

As they sat there Calleigh closed her eyes to fight off the wave of nausea she was feeling. When she opened them she saw Ryan sitting up against one of the trees hugging his knees. He looked miserable as he rocked back and forth. She had to wonder if he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Based on the way he acted earlier it was a sure bet. She remembered her father when he would try and quit his drinking and it was very similar to the way Ryan was now acting. There was little she could do for him at the moment so she just sat there and watched him.

The two had sat in silence for about 10 minutes when Calleigh heard someone calling her name. It sounded like Justin. She looked over at Ryan, but it didn't appear that he had heard anything. His head was now resting on his knees.

Calleigh got to her knees and eventually stood up. She heard her name called again; only it was closer this time.

Ryan also heard it causing him to lift his head up. Fear clouded his vision as he looked over at Calleigh. He saw her standing up; looking around for the source of the voice. He wanted nothing more than to protect her so he got to his feet and went over to her, "Calleigh, who's out there?"

"I think it's Justin; he must have found us". She got excited as she heard her name again. "Justin, we're over here".

Justin had been looking for them and when he found Cheryl on the ground unconscious he knew he must be close. He had spent the last 30 minutes looking for Calleigh and calling out her name. When he heard his own name being called out he knew he had found her. "Calleigh, where are you? Keep talking so I can find you".

Calleigh kept calling out to Justin until she saw him. As soon as he came around one of the trees she ran to him and put her arms around him.

Justin embraced Calleigh and felt relieved to have found her. He looked behind her and saw that she had found Ryan. He pushed Calleigh away just enough to get a good look at her, "You look awful, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but we need to get Ryan out of here".

A closer inspection of Ryan's appearance was enough for Justin to know Calleigh spoke the truth. The young man looked terrible. He used his radio and alerted the others to their location. "They are on their way Calleigh, but in the meantime I think the both of you need to sit down".

Calleigh was about to sit down when she remembered Cheryl, "We left Cheryl back there somewhere. You should probably have some men out looking for her still".

"No need, I came across her and she is currently handcuffed around a tree. I'll send some men to her location and that should be the end of all of this".

Calleigh was relieved. She went over to where Ryan was and could see he was not doing very well. "Come on Ryan, you should sit down and wait with me. Help is one the way and soon we will be able to get you out of here".

Ryan remained silent and was grateful that she pulled his body into hers. He was cold and shaking again, but the warmth helped enough until he fell asleep. For the first time in a long time he felt safe.

-

-

About 60 minutes after Justin found Calleigh and Ryan the three of them were riding in the back of a van on their way to one of the local hospitals. Ryan had yet to wake up and this worried Calleigh.

When they arrived at the hospital Ryan and Calleigh were taken to separate rooms for evaluation. Justin went with Calleigh to make sure she was going to be alright while one of the other officers accompanied Ryan.

As Justin sat with Calleigh, she asked him to contact Horatio and let him know they had found Ryan. As soon as he was off the phone the doctor came in and said that Calleigh had a minor concussion, but would be alright with some rest.

Calleigh was told to take it easy, but didn't require any overnight stay at the hospital. When the doctor released her she made her way to Ryan's room. She was told that he was being admitted for an overnight observation. He was suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and withdrawal symptoms. He also had the start of an infection on one of his feet.

When Calleigh walked into his room, she saw that he was receiving fluids as well as a good dose of antibiotics. His eyes were closed when she entered his room, but as soon as she called his name they flew open.

Ryan saw Calleigh and smiled at her. It wasn't a very big smile, but at the moment it was all he could provide her, "Hey Calleigh".

"Hey yourself Ryan, how are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here". He rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes again. He was tired and just wanted to sleep.

Calleigh could tell he was tired and didn't say anything more to him when she saw his eyes close again. She sat down in the chair next to his bed and watched him while he rested. She was so glad to have found him.

-

-

When Horatio had received the call he drove out to bring Calleigh and Ryan home. When he arrived at the hospital he found Calleigh in Ryan's room. She looked like she was worn out, but she didn't look as bad as Ryan.

After talking to Ryan's doctor, Horatio was shocked to learn of his condition. He knew that it would take some time for the young man to heal both physically and emotionally.

Horatio made arrangements to have Ryan transferred to a hospital closer to home. He would stay the night and be moved in the morning.

Calleigh chose to stay with him and help him with the move in the morning. Horatio also stayed so he could be the one to bring them home.

-

-

It had been a week since Calleigh had found Ryan. He had spent that last week in the hospital since his withdrawal from the drug was harder on him than anyone would have guessed. Calleigh had spent as much time as she could with him and even endured some of the more challenging aspects of someone who was trying to kick a drug habit.

Ryan had also spent quite a bit of time seeing a psychologist for the emotional trauma he had suffered at Cheryl's hand. It had been hard on him at first, but by the end of his stay at the hospital he was feeling better.

Calleigh was there waiting for him when he was released from the hospital. When they arrived at his condo she could tell he was a little hesitant to go inside. "Well, here we are Ryan. Does it feel good to be back at home?"

Ryan looked at his front door and remembered all the bad things that happened on the other side of the door, "I don't know if I am. So much happened inside that it is going to be hard to forget everything".

"Well, you won't be alone. I plan on staying with you for awhile until you are feeling better".

"I'm so glad I have someone like you in my life. I don't think I would have survived if it hadn't been you".

"I'm not sure I would have survived long if I hadn't found you either. I'm use to having you around and I would like to keep it that way".

Ryan had to laugh at her remark. She always knew how to change the way someone was feeling. He was glad to have her as a friend.

The two of them walked inside and Ryan got settled back into his old routine. He would be starting work soon, but his doctor wanted him to have a few more weeks off as he gained his strength back. It was also decided that it would be better for him to come back after Cheryl's trial was over. She was currently locked away awaiting her sentencing. Calleigh had been afraid of what it would do to Ryan when he had to testify against his former girlfriend, but she was planning on being there with him the whole time.

She made sure Ryan was comfortable on the couch as she prepared him some food. When she came back onto the living room she sat next to him while he ate. She kept looking at him; not quite believing that this whole ordeal was now over.

When it was ready for bed she made him a nice hot bath to relax him. After he came out she got him settled in bed before she went to the guest room. She didn't know how long she would be staying here, but she was not going to leave until he was ok with it.

She was only asleep for a little more than an hour when she heard the sounds of screaming. Her senses reacted quickly as she found something to protect herself with and went in search of Ryan. As soon as she entered his room she saw that he was alone and sitting up in bed. He looked frightened of something. "Ryan, I heard screaming, is everything alright?"

Ryan didn't hear her at first, but when he felt someone sit down on the bed he looked at her; feeling embarrassed. "Sorry Calleigh, I guess I was having a nightmare. I can't get Cheryl out of my head".

"That's totally understandable Ryan. After everything you've been through I would expect a few nightmares". She crawled next to him and had him lie his head down on her chest. She started stroking his hair and within minutes she heard the soft sounds of his breathing. She knew he was asleep but didn't have the heart to move him; for fear of waking him up. She decided to just make herself comfortable and stayed with him the rest of the night.

-

As morning streaked through the open window Ryan woke up feeling warm and cozy. He looked over at the pillow next to his and found that Calleigh was there. He tried to remember how she ended up here, but nothing came to mind. He rolled over and closed his eyes again enjoying the moment. Something told him that everything was going to be alright now.

-

-

Author's Note: well here is the end to my story. I thank the few of you who left me reviews, especially Trish. I hope you like the story Trish, for without you I would never have gone back to try and write this one.


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